Officials report that one person has been killed and 26 others injured following a night of intense Russian strikes across nearly every district in Kyiv.
On Friday morning, the Ukrainian capital was shrouded in a thick layer of acrid smoke after hours marked by the intermittent sounds of air defense guns, buzzing drones, and loud explosions. According to Ukraine, Russia launched an unprecedented 550 drones and 11 missiles during this time.
The strikes occurred just hours after a phone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin. Following this discussion, Trump expressed his disappointment that Putin was not prepared to bring the war against Ukraine to an end.
Moscow states that the conflict will persist until its goals are achieved.
The overnight air strikes by Russia set a new record, as reported by Ukraine's air force. Of the 550 drones deployed, 72 managed to penetrate Ukrainian air defenses—exceeding the previous high of 537 drones launched last Saturday night.
Air raid alarms blared for over eight hours as multiple waves of attacks targeted Kyiv, which the air force described on Telegram as the "main target of the strikes."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky strongly criticized what he described as one of the war's most "blatantly significant and cynical" attacks, recounting a "difficult night without sleep."
Zelensky noted in a Telegram post that the timing of Russia's latest actions, occurring immediately after Putin's call with Trump, serves as further evidence of Russia's lack of intention to end the war.
He urged international allies, especially the United States, to intensify pressure on Moscow and implement more severe sanctions.
Video footage shared on social media by Ukraine's state emergency service depicted firefighters working to put out fires in Kyiv following Russia's extensive overnight attack.
According to Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv's city military administration, rescuers discovered a deceased individual while searching through the rubble in the Svyatoshynsky district.
Ukrainian authorities reported that railway infrastructure suffered damage, and fires broke out in schools, buildings, and cars throughout the capital.
Radosław Sikorski, the Foreign Minister of Poland, stated that the Polish consulate had sustained damage as well.
The Russian attacks also targeted the regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Chernihiv.
Russia's defense ministry stated that the "massive strike" was initiated as a response to what it described as the "terrorist acts of the Kyiv regime."
The interim governor of Russia's southern Rostov region reported that a woman lost her life in a Ukrainian drone strike on a village near the border on Friday night.
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