Russia launched one of its largest aerial assaults on Ukraine’s capital overnight into Thursday, killing at least 22 civilians and injuring more than 90 people in an attack that Kyiv says targeted residential areas across the city.
The hours-long bombardment combined 74 missiles and 496 drones, according to Ukraine’s air force, with loud explosions shaking the capital as more than 50,000 residents sought shelter in subway stations after air raid sirens sounded, the Associated Press reported.
Emergency crews spent Thursday searching through collapsed apartment buildings for survivors as fires burned across multiple districts of the city. Authorities reported damage at more than 30 locations, including about 20 residential buildings.
Among the hardest-hit areas were Kyiv’s Desnianskyi and Darnytskyi districts, where residents became trapped inside damaged apartment buildings. In Darnytskyi, most of a nine-story residential building collapsed.
“It was a night of horror,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said, describing the attack as rescuers continued pulling victims from the rubble.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko called it the worst Russian attack on the capital in more than four years of war, according to The Guardian.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the barrage was retaliation for Ukraine’s recent long-range attacks on Russian oil facilities, claiming it targeted weapons factories, energy infrastructure, and military airfields using “high-precision long-range weapons” and drones. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also maintained that the strikes were directed “exclusively against military or military-linked targets.”
Ukrainian officials rejected that characterization, pointing to widespread damage to residential neighborhoods. Sybiha called it “immoral” to describe the attack as retaliation, arguing that Ukraine is defending itself against an invading force while Russia is the aggressor.
The overnight attack came after weeks of intensified Ukrainian drone strikes deep inside Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described the campaign as a 40-day blitz targeting Russian oil infrastructure, with officials saying the strategy is designed to weaken Moscow’s war effort and force Russian President Vladimir Putin toward negotiations.
According to Ukrainian officials, the strikes have contributed to severe fuel shortages in Russia, particularly in occupied Crimea, where authorities have declared a state of emergency. Multiple Russian regions have also introduced gasoline rationing following attacks on refineries.
Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces struck one of Russia’s largest oil refineries overnight in the Nizhny Novgorod region, igniting a fire. It also reported striking a railway bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River in Russian-occupied Luhansk that was being used to transport Russian personnel, weapons, and military supplies.
Russia acknowledged Thursday’s strikes were conducted in response to Ukraine’s attacks on its energy infrastructure.
While Ukraine has significantly improved its ability to intercept Russian drones during the war, officials say ballistic missiles remain much harder to stop. Roughly one-third of the missiles launched during Thursday’s attack were ballistic missiles.
Sybiha renewed Kyiv’s call for additional Western air defense systems, particularly Patriot batteries, arguing that greater air defense capabilities could have reduced the destruction.
“We are fighting alone,” Zelensky said after returning early from a trip to Ireland to visit one of the strike sites. “The victims are only Ukrainians. All we ask from our partners is that they do what they agreed to.”
According to Ukrainian officials, Putin believes time favors Moscow as it seeks to outlast Western support for Ukraine while continuing pressure through sustained aerial bombardment.
President Donald Trump and Zelensky are expected to attend next week’s NATO summit in Turkey.
As the death toll continued to rise Thursday, Kyiv officials declared Friday a day of mourning for the victims of the attack.
