One person has been killed and at least 21 others injured after Russia launched a large-scale overnight missile and drone assault on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, in one of the most intense attacks on the city in recent weeks.
Powerful explosions echoed across Kyiv shortly after 1 a.m. on Sunday as air raid sirens blared throughout the capital. Ukrainian officials said the barrage damaged residential buildings, schools, offices, warehouses, shopping centres and other civilian infrastructure across more than 40 locations in the city.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that a nine-storey residential building in the central Shevchenko district was struck during the attack, sparking a major fire on the upper floors. Emergency crews rushed to the scene as residents attempted to escape the burning structure.
“A massive ballistic attack has targeted the capital. Further launches remain possible,” Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, wrote on Telegram during the assault.
According to city authorities, 13 people were hospitalised following the strikes, including three victims who remain in serious condition. A 15-year-old boy was among those injured. Officials also reported that several people became trapped inside air raid shelters after falling debris blocked entrances during the bombardment.
Residents across Kyiv spent hours sheltering inside underground metro stations as explosions continued throughout the night. Thick black smoke rose over several districts by sunrise while firefighters battled multiple blazes caused by missile debris and drone impacts.
Images from the aftermath showed shattered apartment blocks, collapsed facades and burned-out commercial buildings. Damage was also reported near Kyiv’s historic Independence Square, where a post office and nearby structures were hit by blast waves.
The latest strikes come amid escalating tensions between Moscow and Kyiv following an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on the occupied town of Starobilsk in eastern Ukraine on Friday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting a student dormitory in the town, claiming the attack killed 18 people, many of them young students. The Kremlin described the incident as a “monstrous crime” and vowed retaliation.
Ukraine, however, denied striking civilian targets. In a statement, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said its forces had attacked a Russian military drone unit operating near Starobilsk and insisted the operation complied with international humanitarian law.
Before the overnight assault, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned that intelligence gathered from Ukraine, the United States and European allies suggested Russia was preparing another large-scale strike against Kyiv, potentially involving the use of the advanced Oreshnik hypersonic missile. Ukrainian officials have not yet confirmed whether the weapon was used during Sunday’s attack.
The Oreshnik missile, first unveiled by Russia in late 2025, is capable of travelling at hypersonic speeds and is believed to be difficult for air defence systems to intercept. Military analysts say its deployment would represent another escalation in the nearly four-year-long war.
The overnight strikes also prompted neighbouring Poland, a NATO member, to scramble military aircraft as a precaution during the aerial assault near its borders. Polish authorities later confirmed there had been no violations of its airspace.
Russia has intensified its aerial campaign against Ukrainian cities in recent months, frequently targeting Kyiv with waves of drones and missiles. Ukrainian officials say the attacks are aimed at exhausting air defence systems and terrorising civilians far from the front lines.