Russian Airstrikes Pound Kyiv 6 Dead, 80 Injured in Overnight Assault, Ukraine Reports

KYIV- At least six people were killed and 80 injured early Friday as Russian forces unleashed a massive missile and drone assault across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, in what Ukrainian officials described as a direct retaliation for recent drone strikes deep inside Russian territory.

The attack came after Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a warning reportedly conveyed through former U.S. President Donald Trump, vowed a response following Ukraine’s successful targeting of Russian strategic bomber aircraft. According to Ukrainian intelligence, last weekend's drone strikes launched from inside Russia using quadcopters hidden in wooden sheds damaged key airfields and destroyed bomber assets in Saratov and Ryazan regions.

“This was one of the most intense aerial assaults of the war,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, confirming that three emergency workers were killed in Kyiv while responding to the initial strikes. “They were rescue workers who arrived after the first hit, and tragically lost their lives in a follow-up strike,” he said in his nightly video address.

Two others were killed in the northern city of Chernihiv, and another in Lutsk, in Ukraine’s northwest, where 30 more were injured. In Chernihiv, emergency teams pulled two bodies from the rubble of an industrial site. In Lutsk, a man’s body was recovered from a collapsed apartment building, with rescuers still searching for his wife. A government building and educational facilities were also hit in the city.

In Kyiv, residents were jolted awake by a series of powerful explosions that shattered windows and sent people scrambling into metro stations and underground parking garages for shelter. A drone slammed into an apartment block in the city’s Solomianskyi district, gouging a large hole in the structure and crushing cars beneath fallen concrete. Investigators were seen examining the drone’s engine at the scene.

The city’s metro and rail transport systems were severely disrupted, with damage reported to rail lines and metro tracks. Ukraine’s state rail company confirmed train reroutes due to damage near Kyiv.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of retaliating against its own military losses by targeting civilians. “Multi-storey buildings hit. Energy infrastructure damaged,” he wrote on X.

Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia deployed 407 drones—the largest swarm used in a single attack to date along with 45 cruise and ballistic missiles. Meanwhile, in the western city of Ternopil, strikes on industrial facilities and power infrastructure left parts of the city in darkness. Local officials also issued a public health warning due to toxic fumes released after a fire.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed the strikes were directed at military and military-linked targets in response to “terrorist acts” by Ukraine. However, widespread civilian casualties and infrastructure damage have prompted strong condemnation.

“They gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, in reference to Ukraine’s drone campaign against Russian air bases.

Zelenskyy responded with a renewed call for international action: “If someone is not applying pressure and is giving the war more time to take lives that is complicity,” he posted on X. “We must act decisively.”

As search and rescue operations continue across multiple cities, Ukrainian officials warned that additional victims could still be trapped under debris, highlighting the continuing human cost of one of the most dangerous nights of the war so far.

For questions or comments write to contactus@bostonbrandmedia.com

Source: NDTV