A nighttime missile and drone attack on Ukraine killed at least four people and injured 20 others in Kyiv, city mayor Vitali Klitschko said Friday, as Russia targeted at least six regions across the country with 407 drones and 44 missiles in one of its largest co-ordinated attacks of the three-year war.
Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said the barrage included ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as a mix of strike drones and decoys. Ukrainian forces said they shot down about 30 of the cruise missiles and up to 200 of the drones.
Ukrainian cities have come under regular bombardment since Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022. The attacks have killed more than 12,000 civilians, according to the United Nations.
The war has continued unabated even as a U.S.-led diplomatic push for a settlement has brought two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine. The negotiations delivered no significant breakthroughs, however, and the sides remain far apart on their terms for an end to the fighting.
Ukraine has offered an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock. But the Kremlin has effectively rejected a truce and hasn’t budged from its demands.
More retaliation expected Sunday
Putin said in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this week that he would respond to Ukraine’s daring long-range attack on Russian air bases on Sunday.
The nighttime attack came hours after Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” before pulling them apart and pursuing peace, in comments that were a remarkable detour from Trump’s often-stated appeals to stop the war.
Ukrainian drones struck deep into enemy territory in Russia, with officials claiming the attack destroyed over 40 Russian warplanes. Andrew Chang explains how Ukraine is believed to have pulled off what it describes as its longest-range attack against Russia, and how it says it was able to do so undetected.
Images provided by Getty Images, The Canadian Press and Reuters.
In Russia, air defences shot down 10 Ukrainian drones heading toward the capital early Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Flights at Moscow airports were temporarily suspended during the night as a precaution.
Ukrainian drones also targeted three other regions of Russia, authorities said, damaging apartment buildings and industrial plants. Three people were injured, officials said.
Ukraine accused of sabotaging rail network
Russia’s Defence Ministry said that air defences downed 174 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions early Friday. It added that three Ukrainian Neptune missiles were also shot down over the Black Sea.
Also, a locomotive derailed early Friday in the Belgorod region after the track was blown up, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Russia has recently accused Ukraine of sabotaging the rail network.
Ukrainian air defences are currently strained.
In Kyiv, multiple explosions were heard for hours in the capital, where falling debris sparked fires across several districts as air defence systems attempted to intercept incoming targets, said Kyiv City Administration head Tymur Tkachenko.
“Our air defence crews are doing everything possible. But we must protect one another — stay safe,” Tkachenko wrote on Telegram, urging people to seek shelter.
‘My whole live flashed before my eyes’
Fourteen-year-old Kyiv resident Vitalina Vasylchenko sheltered in a parking garage with her six-year-old sister and their mother after an explosion blew one of their windows off its hinges.
“I heard a buzzing sound, then my dad ran to me and covered me with his hand, then there was a very loud explosion,” she said.
“My whole life flashed before my eyes, I already thought that was it. I started having a panic attack…. I’m shocked that I’m alive.”
Twice a year, a volunteer team of medical staff travels to western Ukraine to treat soldiers and civilians with severe facial injuries from the war. Radio-Canada’s Raphaël Bouvier-Auclair visited the Canadian organization’s clinic to see the life-changing transformations.
Ukraine’s human rights chief Dmytro Lubinets called for a strong international response to Russia’s latest overnight attack, saying the assault violated basic human rights.
“Russia is acting like a terrorist, systematically targeting civilian infrastructure,” Lubinets wrote on Telegram. “The world must respond clearly and take concrete steps, including condemning the aggressor’s actions.”
3 emergency responders killed in Kyiv attack
Authorities reported damage in several districts in Kyiv, and rescue workers responded at multiple locations.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said three emergency workers were killed in Kyiv while responding to the aftermath of Russian strikes.
“They were working under fire to help people,” the ministry said in a statement.
In Solomyanskyi district, a fire broke out on the 11th floor of a 16-storey residential building. Emergency services evacuated three people from the apartment. Another fire broke out in a metal warehouse.
Tkachenko said the metro tracks between two stations in Kyiv were damaged in the attack, but no fire or injuries occurred.
Power outages
More than 2,000 households in Kyiv’s eastern bank remained without electricity Friday following the overnight Russian attack, the Kyiv City Administration said.
The number of people injured in a Russian attack on the western city of Ternopil early Friday rose to 10, including five emergency workers, regional governor Viacheslav Nehoda said. The strike damaged industrial and infrastructure facilities, left parts of the city without electricity, and disrupted water supplies.
Three people were injured in Ukraine’s central Poltava region following a Russian attack there that damaged administrative buildings, warehouses and a cafe, regional head Volodymyr Kohut said. Fires caused by the strike have been extinguished, and debris also fell on a private home.
Russian forces also struck the Khmelnytskyi region overnight, damaging a private residential building, outbuildings, a fence, and several vehicles, regional governor Serhii Tiuryn said.
Meanwhile, air defence forces shot down three Russian missiles over the western Lviv region overnight, the regional head Maksym Kozytskyi said.
In northern Chernihiv region, a Shahed drone exploded near an apartment building, shattering windows and doors, according to regional military administration chief Dmytro Bryzhynskyi. He added explosions from ballistic missiles were recorded on the outskirts of the city.
