In a major offensive, Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, using drones and missiles for 11 hours from Wednesday night to Thursday morning. This assault resulted in the deaths of at least 21 civilians and injured dozens more. Moscow described the barrage as retaliation for Ukraine’s attacks on Russian oil facilities.
Powerful explosions rocked Kiev, prompting more than 50,000 residents to seek shelter in subway stations following air raid warnings issued by city authorities. Rescue teams worked tirelessly through the debris of destroyed and charred apartment buildings in search of survivors.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the deadly bombardment was in response to recent long-range Ukrainian attacks. These strikes have significantly hampered fuel supplies and put pressure on President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine’s increasing strikes within Russia—dubbed a 40-day blitz by President Zelenskyy—have targeted oil refineries, triggering a fuel crisis that has frustrated Russians already feeling the economic toll of the conflict.
Technological advancements in Ukrainian drone engineering over recent months have provided an edge, according to Western officials and analysts. Targeting supply routes behind the front lines has hindered Russian military advances, making them slow and costly. Ukrainian forces have focused primarily on supplies to Crimea, triggering the worst fuel crisis on the Black Sea peninsula since Russia’s illegal annexation in 2014.
Ukrainian authorities assert their aim is to compel Putin to negotiate. However, Moscow’s response has been continued counterattacks. Diplomatic efforts to end the war, most recently led by former U.S. President Donald Trump, have yet to yield results. Trump and Zelenskyy are expected to attend the upcoming NATO summit in Turkey. Analysts believe Putin thinks time is on his side and that weakening Western support will eventually crush Ukrainian resistance.
Ukrainian Diplomat Describes a Night of Horror in Kiev
The attack claimed 21 lives in Kiev, according to the country’s Emergency Service. Over 90 individuals suffered injuries. Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, characterized the event as a ‘night of horror’ in the capital, initially home to about 3 million residents before the war.
Drone and missile explosions lit up the night, with loud detonations echoing across Kiev. Anti-aircraft fire traced arcs in the sky as dark smoke billowed upwards. Damage was reported at over 30 locations, including 20 residential buildings.
Serhii Budko, a resident of Kiev, recounted how three or four ballistic missiles struck his district. “We were in the shelter, and we felt it shaking… the ceiling, the floor, everything,” he said.
In Kiev’s Desnianskyi district, individuals were trapped inside a nine-story residential building. In Darnytskyi district, most of a nine-story building collapsed.
Elsewhere in Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region, a Russian attack killed a 7-year-old girl and injured four others, including an 11-year-old, all from the same family, reported regional chief Oleksandr Hanzha.
Calls for Increased Air Defenses
The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, claimed the bombing targeted “exclusively military objects or sites linked to the military domain.” Yet, Russian strikes have repeatedly hit civilian areas. According to the United Nations, over 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have perished in the conflict.
No reliable casualty figures for the battlefield are available. A report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies earlier this year estimated up to 1.8 million soldiers have been killed, wounded, or gone missing on both sides, with most losses being Russian troops.
The attack used long-range, high-precision weapons and drones to target arms factories and energy facilities in and around Kiev, as well as military airfield infrastructure elsewhere in Ukraine, stated the Russian Ministry of Defense. The Ukrainian Air Force detailed that Russia launched 74 missiles and 496 drones in the attack.
Ukraine’s air defense systems have improved throughout the war, particularly in countering Russian drones. But stopping ballistic missiles, which comprised about one-third of the missiles fired overnight, remains more difficult.
Sybiha, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, mentioned in April that the country’s arms factories supply up to 75% of the needs of their armed forces. However, he and other officials have called on partner countries to provide more Patriot systems, offering the best protection against Russian air raids.
Ukrainian Retaliatory Strike on Russian Oil Refinery
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces struck one of Russia’s largest oil refineries overnight in the Nizhny Novgorod region, east of Moscow, causing a fire, claimed Ukraine’s General Staff. Additionally, Ukrainian forces attacked a railway bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region. The bridge had been used by Russian forces to transport personnel, weapons, and military supplies according to the General Staff.