Ukraine’s air force on Friday said that Russia launched 550 drones and missiles at the war-battered country in an overnight attack. The latest aerial assault, the largest since the start of the war, by the Kremlin comes as peace talks led by the United States have stalled.
Waves of drone and missile attacks targeted the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv overnight, injuring 23 people and inflicting damage across multiple districts of the capital.
Ukraine’s air force said that the majority of them were Shahed drones and around 11 missiles were used in the attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also shared an update on the recent attack on X and highlighted that “the first air raid alerts in our cities and regions yesterday began to blare almost simultaneously with media reports discussing a phone call between President Trump and Putin.”
According to an Associated Press report, the constant buzzing of drones overhead was heard throughout the night along with the sound of explosions and intense machine gun fire as Kyiv tried to intercept the aerial assault.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that the Ukrainian capital was the primary target of the overnight attack, in which at least 23 people were injured, with 14 hospitalised.
Ukraine added that the security forces shot down 270 targets, including two cruise missiles, while as many as 208 targets were lost from radar and presumed jammed.
Russia successfully hit eight locations with nine missiles and 63 drones, as per an Associated Press report. Additionally, debris from intercepted drones fell across at least 33 sites.
The massive attack on Kyiv comes hours after US President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on call.
It may be noted that it has been less than a week since Moscow’s previous largest aerial assault in the ongoing war. Earlier, Kyiv had reported that Russia fired 537 drones, decoys and 60 missiles in that attack.