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Overnight assault leaves 13 dead across Ukraine
Russia launched one of its largest missile and drone attacks in months, killing at least 13 people in Dnipro and Kyiv early Tuesday. Nine fatalities were reported in Dnipro, while four others died in the capital. Dozens more, including children, sustained injuries as residential buildings collapsed under the barrage.
Emergency response underway in Kyiv
Rescue teams in Kyiv worked through the morning to locate survivors buried under rubble after the strikes hit apartment blocks. Air raid sirens sounded across most of Ukraine before dawn, with explosions echoing through the capital. Kyiv's military administration confirmed ballistic missiles were part of the assault, while Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents to remain in shelters.
Fires erupted near a petrol station, construction sites, and multiple apartment buildings. Two houses were also damaged, and power outages spread across the city. Smoke plumes rose from central Kyiv as drones buzzed overhead between explosions.
Russia claims retaliation as Ukraine pleads for air defense support
Russia's defense ministry stated the strikes were a response to prior Ukrainian attacks, asserting all "strike objectives" were met. Moscow had previously threatened "systematic strikes" after accusing Kyiv of targeting a student dormitory in occupied eastern Ukraine. Ukraine countered that it had struck a Russian military unit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of a "massive strike" in his Monday night address, urging citizens to heed air raid alerts. By Tuesday morning, he reported Russia had launched 656 drones and 73 missiles-including ballistic, cruise, and anti-ship variants-overnight. Ukraine's air force claimed to have intercepted 642 of the projectiles.
"We urgently need help from the United States in supplying missiles for Patriot systems,"
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukrainian President
Patriot missile shortages have worsened amid U.S. and Israeli conflicts with Iran. Since taking office last year, U.S. President Donald Trump halted direct arms shipments to Ukraine, forcing European allies to purchase Patriots from Washington before transferring them to Kyiv.
Wider impact across Ukraine
In Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported 10 injuries, including a child, from overnight drone and missile strikes. An industrial site in Zaporizhzhia was also hit. The attacks followed a pattern of escalation since a May ceasefire collapsed, including a Russian strike on a Kyiv apartment block that killed 24 people, among them three children.
Ukraine retaliated days later with an attack on the Moscow region, which Russian officials said killed three. Zelensky called the response "entirely justified." Kyiv dismissed Russia's threats as "shameless blackmail" and called on allies to intensify pressure on Moscow, which invaded Ukraine in 2022.
