Kyiv: Russia launched a widespread aerial assault on Ukraine early Sunday, targeting the capital Kyiv and several other major cities, in a wave of drone strikes that left at least three people dead and over a dozen injured, according to Ukrainian officials.
Authorities in the Kyiv region confirmed the deaths of three civilians in separate incidents in two small towns just outside the capital. In Kyiv itself, 11 people were injured in drone attacks, according to Timur Tkachenko, head of the city’s military administration.
One of the strikes struck a five-storey residential building in the Holosiivskyi district, located near the city centre, sparking a fire that caused extensive damage to the building’s facade. Additional attacks hit a private residence and a business centre in other parts of the capital.
The assault marked the second night in a row of intense Russian aerial activity. Just one day earlier, a large-scale offensive involving dozens of drones and ballistic missiles targeted Kyiv overnight. That barrage, one of the most significant since the start of the war, damaged multiple apartment buildings and left 15 people injured.
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Beyond Kyiv, the strikes extended across Ukraine. In the northeast, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said three districts in the city were hit, injuring three residents and shattering windows in residential high-rises. In the southern city of Mykolaiv, drone attacks injured two people in a residential neighborhood, according to the regional governor. Meanwhile, a missile strike in western Ukraine’s Ternopil damaged several structures and ignited a minor fire.
Local authorities also reported a large drone attack in Konotop, a city located north of Kyiv.
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Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed its air defense systems intercepted or destroyed 95 Ukrainian drones over a four-hour span. Separately, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that 12 drones en route to the Russian capital had been neutralized by air defenses.
As the conflict enters its third year, the continued escalation of drone and missile warfare underscores the increasing reliance on unmanned systems and highlights the ongoing threat to civilian infrastructure across Ukraine.