Russia Launches Largest Drone and Missile Attack of War on Ukraine, Killing 12 and Injuring Dozens

A number of houses across the Kyiv region were destroyed in Russian strikes overnight

Russia has launched its most massive aerial assault of the war on Ukraine, unleashing a wave of drones and missiles that struck Kyiv and multiple regions across the country for the second night in a row, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens more, according to Ukrainian officials.

Ukraine’s air force reported that 367 projectiles were fired during the assault — including 298 drones and 69 missiles of various types — marking the largest single attack since the full-scale invasion began more than three years ago. The barrage included Iranian-designed Shahed drones, according to Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Colonel Yuriy Ihnat.

The village of Markhalivka, in Ukraine's Kyiv region, was also hit heavily

The Kremlin has not issued an official response to the operation, but Russia's defense ministry claimed its forces intercepted 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack and called on the United States and the global community to break their silence and impose additional sanctions on Russia. “The silence of America, the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. “Every such terrorist Russian strike is reason enough for new sanctions against Russia.”

A woman cries while standing on the rubble of her house in Khmelnytski

Zelenskyy confirmed that more than 30 cities and villages across the country were targeted, including Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernihiv, Sumy, Odesa, Poltava, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, and Cherkasy regions. The president described the attacks as “deliberate strikes on ordinary cities,” noting that many residential buildings were damaged or destroyed.

In Kyiv, the attack cast a dark shadow over Kyiv Day, a national holiday commemorating the city’s founding. Explosions rocked the capital and surrounding areas throughout the night, as air defense units attempted to intercept the incoming barrage. Fires broke out in homes and commercial properties due to falling debris from downed drones.

At least four people were killed in Kyiv, while three children — aged 8, 12, and 17 — died in the Zhytomyr region. Four more fatalities were reported in Khmelnytskyi, and one man was killed in Mykolaiv. In Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district, a drone strike set a student dormitory ablaze, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

In the nearby village of Markhalivka, 76-year-old Liubov Fedorenko and her husband Ivan, 80, stood in tears beside their destroyed home. “The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol, it’s just terrible,” she said, comparing the destruction to cities razed earlier in the war. She expressed relief that her daughter had declined a visit. “Thank God she didn’t come, because the rocket hit the side where the children’s rooms were.”

Ivan lamented the loss of their pets. “I want to bury them, but I’m not allowed yet,” he said, describing how their two dogs perished in the blaze.

The attack coincided with the final day of a significant prisoner swap, which saw 1,000 Ukrainian and Russian soldiers and civilians exchanged over three days. Sunday’s exchange brought 303 individuals home to each side, following swaps of 307 and 390 people on Saturday and Friday, respectively. It marked the largest prisoner exchange since the war began, though it did not signal any de-escalation on the battlefield.

Fighting remains fierce along the 1,000-kilometer front line. Both nations continue to trade artillery fire and sustain high casualties. On Sunday, Russia claimed to have seized the village of Romanivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, though this report has not been independently verified.