At least 12 killed in massive Russian drone-and-missile attack on Ukraine
Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and surrounding areas.
A massive Russian drone-and-missile attack has targeted Ukraine for a second consecutive night, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens of others, officials said.
The scale of the onslaught was stunning – Russia hit Ukraine with 367 drones and missiles, making it the largest single attack of the war so far, according to Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat.
The attack took place hours before Russia and Ukraine swapped hundreds more prisoners on Sunday, the third and last part of a major exchange that reflected a rare moment of co-operation in otherwise failed efforts to reach a ceasefire in the three-year war.
Sounds of explosions boomed throughout the night in Kyiv and the surrounding area as Ukrainian air defence forces persisted for hours in efforts to shoot down enemy drones and missiles. At least four people were killed and 16 were injured in the capital overnight into Sunday, according to Ukraine’s security service.
Fires broke out in homes and businesses, set off by falling drone debris.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media platform X: “A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night. The most massive Russian air attack in many weeks lasted all night.”
In Zhytomyr region, west of Kyiv, three children aged eight, 12 and 17 were killed, according to the emergency service. Twelve people were injured in the attacks. At least four people were killed in Khmelnytskyi region, in western Ukraine, and one man died in Mykolaiv region in the south.
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said a student dormitory in Holosiivskyi district was hit by a drone which started a fire. In Dniprovskyi district, a private house was destroyed, and residential buildings were also damaged in Shevchenkivskyi district.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian missiles and drones hit more than 30 cities and villages, and he urged Western partners to ramp up sanctions on Russia – a long-standing demand of the Ukrainian leader but one that despite warnings to Moscow by the United States and Europe has not materialised in ways to deter Russia.
“These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X, adding that Sunday’s targets included Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Cherkasy regions.
“America’s silence, the silence of others in the world, only encourages,” Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said. “Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.
On the prisoner swap, the defence ministry in Moscow said each side brought home 303 more soldiers on Sunday. That came after each released a total of 307 combatants and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Friday – the biggest swap of the war.
Mr Zelensky confirmed the exchange, saying on X on Sunday that “303 Ukrainian defenders are home”.
He noted the troops returning to Ukraine were members of the “Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and the State Special Transport Service”.
