Russia unleashed a massive drone and missile barrage on Ukraine early Friday, killing eight people and striking critical energy and civilian infrastructure in what officials described as one of the most intense attacks on Kyiv since the invasion began.
Ukrainian authorities said six people died in the capital and two more in the southern city of Chornomorsk, as flames lit up the night sky and explosions echoed across multiple districts. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian forces launched 430 drones and 18 missiles in the assault, adding that Ukraine was responding with long-range strikes deep inside Russian territory.
Although Ukrainian air defences intercepted most of the incoming drones and missiles, the debris they left behind caused widespread destruction. High-rise apartment blocks, a school, a medical facility and administrative buildings were damaged across nine districts of Kyiv, a city of nearly 3 million people. Anastasia, a 29-year-old resident whose apartment block was struck, described the chaos: “At that moment you don’t know what to do first—save yourself, your child, or rush to help others, because so many people were screaming and needed help,” she said.
The strikes triggered major fires in several neighbourhoods, forcing emergency crews to battle through smoke-filled streets and rubble. Kyiv’s military administration chief, Timur Tkachenko, said at least 34 people were injured in the capital alone, including two children, while a pregnant woman was among nine people hospitalised. The Kyiv regional governor reported an additional six injuries, including a seven-year-old child, after drones and missiles crashed across communities surrounding the capital.
In the south, Russian drones hit the Black Sea port city of Chornomorsk, killing two people and injuring ten more when a marketplace was struck. Photos from the scene showed residents standing amid debris-strewn streets as firefighters worked to contain blazes engulfing nearby structures. Ukraine’s energy ministry announced partial power cuts in the central Kyiv region, Odesa region in the south and the eastern Donetsk region, warning that repairs could take several days due to repeated strikes on critical infrastructure.
Zelenskiy condemned the attack and renewed his plea for stronger global sanctions and military support, stressing that “only pressure—with sanctions and strength—can force Russia to end this war, a war that no one but them ever needed.” He noted that debris from an Iskander missile also damaged the Azerbaijani Embassy in Kyiv, underscoring the growing risks to foreign missions in the city.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said it launched “high-precision strikes” on Ukrainian energy facilities and weapons-production complexes as retaliation for Kyiv’s increasing drone attacks inside Russia. Ukraine has recently intensified its strikes on Russian oil facilities—an effort aimed at disrupting Moscow’s largest source of war funding. Two industry officials told Reuters that Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk temporarily halted oil exports on Friday following one of these Ukrainian drone attacks.
(Reuters)
