Russian overnight barrage kills at least 18 across Ukraine, with Dnipro and Kyiv hardest hit

The overnight assault

Russia launched one of its largest aerial attacks on Ukraine in months overnight, firing 73 missiles and 656 drones at targets across the country. The Ukrainian air force reported intercepting 40 missiles and 602 drones, but 30 missiles and 33 drones struck 38 locations nationwide. The attack included ballistic missiles and, according to one report, eight Zircon hypersonic missiles, the largest single use of that weapon in the war so far. Air raid sirens wailed across almost the entire country, and thousands of residents sheltered in Kyiv's metro stations.

Casualties in Dnipro and Kyiv

Dnipro suffered the heaviest toll. Regional military governor Olexander Hanscha reported that the bodies of a woman and an eight-year-old boy were pulled from the rubble, bringing the city's death count to twelve, including three children. Thirty-seven people were injured, and more victims were feared trapped under collapsed housing blocks. In Kyiv, mayor Vitali Klitschko said six people were killed and 66 wounded. A rocket struck a 24-storey residential building, causing a partial collapse, and fires broke out across several districts. The state emergency service earlier counted four dead and 64 injured, 38 of them seriously.

Other cities struck

Strikes were also reported in Poltava, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Odesa. In Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terechow said 15 people were wounded, including a child. Odesa authorities reported a hit on a maternity clinic, though no injuries occurred there. Power outages affected 140,000 people overnight, according to energy provider DTEK; supply was later restored to 110,000. Two technicians were injured during repair work.

Air defence gaps

Ukraine's air defences intercepted a high proportion of the drones and cruise missiles, but ballistic missiles remain a critical vulnerability. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned repeatedly since late last week that intelligence pointed to an imminent large-scale strike. He said the attack was another "absolutely clear message from Russia: if Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missiles, these attacks will continue." Zelenskyy stressed that Patriot systems are the only reliable defence against ballistic missiles and that Ukrainian stocks are running low. He has asked the United States to sell Ukraine Patriot systems or at least permit domestic production.

Europe needs its own anti-ballistic system so that this war can finally be ended.

International reaction

Poland's military placed its air defence on alert and scrambled fighter jets as the Russian barrage unfolded. Such alerts have become routine during large-scale attacks on western Ukraine. Foreign minister Andrij Sybiha called Vladimir Putin "a war criminal who has no cards left except terror," adding that Moscow is losing on the battlefield. Russia's defence ministry described the operation as a retaliatory strike aimed at military and military-linked targets.

Putin is a war criminal and a loser who has no cards left in his hand except terror.

A warned attack

Zelenskyy had cautioned citizens for days not to ignore air raid alerts. In a video address on Saturday he said intelligence about a possible massive attack remained current. That forewarning drove more people than usual into shelters overnight, a precaution that SRF correspondent Judith Huber said likely reduced the death toll. The barrage came barely ten days after another large Russian missile and drone assault on Kyiv, and follows a May strike in which a rocket hit a residential building, killing dozens.