Russia Strikes Ukraine with Biggest Air Attack

Russia has intensified strikes on Ukraine, with the highest number of drones and missiles launched in a single night yet.

At least 12 people, including three children, were killed and dozens injured in widespread strikes, officials said. The attack came a day after the Ukrainian capital Kyiv suffered one of the heaviest assaults of the war.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the “brutality cannot be stopped” without “strong pressure on the Russian leadership”. Russia has been ignoring calls for a ceasefire.

He continued to say the “silence of America” and others “only encourages Putin”, an apparent effort to exert pressure on US President Donald Trump who has said the Russian leader is interested in ending the war.

Ukraine’s Air Force said that since 20:40 on Saturday local time (17:40 GMT), Russia had carried out strikes using 367 missiles of various types, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and drones.

The air force said it had shot down 45 cruise missiles and destroyed 266 UAVs, with most regions in Ukraine affected and hits recorded in 22 locations.

Rescuers were working in more than 30 cities and villages after the “massive” strike, Zelensky said in a statement on X on Sunday morning.

“Russia is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day,” he said.

“The world may go on a weekend break, but the war continues, regardless of weekends and weekdays. This cannot be ignored.”

Russia’s defence ministry said it had inflicted damage on targets including military airfields, ammunition depots and electric warfare stations, claiming damage across 142 areas.

Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko confirmed that 13 regions were hit by a massive drone and missile strike, resulting in over 60 injuries, damage to 80 residential buildings, 27 fires, and multiple deaths, including three children from the same family in Zhytomyr. The attacks targeted civilians and caused significant destruction across regions including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, and others.

This was Russia’s largest drone and missile assault yet, with advanced Shahed drones carrying more explosives and better evasion technology. The strikes coincided with Kyiv’s annual holiday and led residents to seek shelter in metro stations.

On the Russian side, their defense forces claimed to have intercepted 110 Ukrainian drones over several regions, including near Moscow, where drone debris caused property damage but no injuries.

The conflict began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea annexed in 2014.

Sunday is also the third and final day of a major prisoner of war exchange between the two sides, and after this weekend, there is even less hope it will lead to further co-operation.

On Friday, Ukraine and Russia each handed over 390 soldiers and civilians in the biggest prisoner exchange since Russia launched its full-scale assault in February 2022.

On Saturday, Zelensky announced that another 307 Ukrainian prisoners had returned home as part of an exchange deal with the Kremlin.

And on Sunday, Ukraine and Russia each confirmed 303 of their soldiers had returned home – bringing the total over the three days to 1,000 prisoners each.

The swap follows the first face-to-face talks between the two sides in three years, which took place in Turkey.

Earlier this week, Trump and Putin had a two-hour phone call to discuss a US-proposed Ukraine ceasefire deal.

Trump said he believed the call had gone “very well”, and added that Russia and Ukraine will “immediately start” negotiations toward a ceasefire and “an end to the war”.

However, Putin has only said Russia would work with Ukraine to craft a “memorandum” on a “possible future peace”, and has not accepted a 30-day ceasefire.

Source: BBC