Deadly overnight attack on the capital
At least 27 people were killed and more than 90 were injured after Russian drones and missiles struck residential buildings in Kyiv during a large overnight assault on the Ukrainian capital.
The attack formed part of a wider wave of Russian strikes and left rescue crews working through the night to search damaged buildings and debris for residents who may still have been trapped.
Death toll expected to rise
Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, warned that the number of dead was likely to increase as emergency teams continued their search and recovery work.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko described the assault as the city’s “most massive enemy attack.”
Hundreds of drones and missiles launched
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia used 570 aerial objects in the attack, nearly 500 of them drones.
The Russian military also launched 24 Iskander ballistic missiles and around 50 cruise missiles of different types at Kyiv.
Among the weapons used were four Zircon hypersonic guided missiles, a system mainly developed for use against ships.
Residential areas badly damaged
Klitschko said a hotel roof caught fire on central Shevchenko Boulevard.
He also reported that a direct strike from a Russian projectile caused part of a residential building to collapse across six floors.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it a “night of horror” in the capital.
Attack lasts around 11 hours
According to Tkachenko, damage was recorded at three dozen locations across Kyiv.
The attacks lasted for around 11 hours, forcing tens of thousands of residents to seek protection underground.
The Kyiv Metro said more than 50,000 people took shelter in subway stations after authorities issued air raid warnings.
Zelenskyy urges more air defense
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia also struck areas outside Kyiv.
He reported five people wounded in the Kharkiv region, including a child, and two more in the Kyiv region, where civilian infrastructure was also hit.
Zelenskyy said Russia also attacked the Sumy, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and Cherkasy regions overnight.
Patriot systems remain a priority
Zelenskyy renewed Ukraine’s appeal for air defense supplies, especially Patriot missiles and related systems.
He said Ukraine is counting on a U.S. decision regarding Patriot licenses and other forms of cooperation.
“These are the kinds of steps that can stop this war and prevent attacks like this,” he said.
Ukraine promises retaliation
The Ukrainian president vowed to respond to Russia’s strikes while visiting an apartment building in Kyiv that had been partly destroyed.
Zelenskyy had earlier shortened his visit to Dublin, Ireland, after intelligence reports indicated that a major Russian attack was likely.
Russia cites Ukrainian drone strikes
Russia said the overnight drone and missile assault was retaliation for Ukrainian drone attacks that targeted Moscow earlier in the week.
That Ukrainian operation came less than two weeks after Kyiv struck a major oil refinery in the Moscow region in what was described as the largest drone attack on the Russian capital since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Drone war reshapes the battlefield
Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy facilities and other critical infrastructure during the war.
Ukraine, however, has expanded its long-range drone capabilities and is now striking targets deep inside Russian territory.
A new analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies said Wednesday that, by some estimates, more than 90% of Russian casualties are now caused by drone attacks rather than direct soldier-to-soldier combat.
Heavy casualties on both sides
The CSIS study estimated that Russian forces suffered approximately 1.4 million battlefield casualties between February 2022 and June 2026, including soldiers killed, wounded or missing.
The study placed Russian fatalities during that period between 400,000 and 450,000.
For Ukraine, the analysis estimated between 525,000 and 625,000 battlefield casualties over the same period.
Ukrainian fatalities were estimated at between 125,000 and 150,000.
Taken together, the figures suggest that more than 2 million Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the beginning of the war.
