At least six people have been killed in Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, officials said, as powerful explosions reverberated across the country.
The attacks overnight into Friday followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, conveyed via United States President Donald Trump, that the Kremlin would hit back after Ukrainian drones destroyed several strategic bomber aircraft in attacks deep inside Russia.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said three emergency responders were killed in the missile and drone salvo against the capital, Kyiv. Two others died in an attack on the northern city of Chernihiv and at least one more in the northwestern city of Lutsk.
“Those killed in Kyiv were rescue workers who arrived at the scene of an initial strike and, unfortunately, were killed in a repeat Russian strike,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Friday.
Multiple explosions were heard in Kyiv, where falling debris sparked fires across several districts as air defence systems attempted to intercept incoming targets, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Administration.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, writing on X, said Russia had “‘responded’ to its destroyed aircraft … by attacking civilians in Ukraine … Multi-storey buildings hit. Energy infrastructure damaged”.
Ukraine’s human rights chief, Dmytro Lubinets, called for a strong international response to the attacks, saying the assault violated basic human rights.
“Russia is acting like a terrorist, systematically targeting civilian infrastructure,” Lubinets wrote on Telegram. “The world must respond clearly and take concrete steps, including condemning the aggressor’s actions.”
Moscow denies targeting civilians since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Friday that its forces had carried out a huge strike on military and military-related targets in Ukraine overnight, in response to what it called Ukrainian “terrorist acts” against Russia.
Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford said it was a “very frightening night”.
“We heard some of the drones go over this area in central Kyiv, giant explosions ringing out across the city, some so loud that they were shaking the glass here of our hotel. We’ve seen pictures of people who took shelter in the metro stations underground and underground car parks,” he said.
Authorities reported damage in several districts.
Widescale assault
The Russian attack hit at least six regions across Ukraine, leaving a trail of civilian injuries, damaged infrastructure and disrupted utilities.
Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces launched 407 drones and 44 missiles, including cruise and ballistic missiles. Ukraine said it succeeded in destroying about 200 drones and 30 missiles.
Zelenskyy said 80 people nationwide had been injured in the attacks. He said residents could still be trapped under rubble.
In Chernihiv, the national emergency services said two bodies were recovered from the rubble of a wrecked industrial enterprise.
In Lutsk, the body of a man was found in the ruins of an apartment block, while emergency crews kept searching for his wife. Thirty people were hurt in the city, where educational institutions and a government building were also hit.
Russian forces also struck industrial facilities and infrastructure in the western city of Ternopil, leaving parts of it without power, Mayor Serhii Nadal said. The regional administration said the attack had injured 10 people and asked residents to temporarily stay inside due to a high concentration of toxic substances in the air after a fire.
Three people were injured in Ukraine’s central Poltava region following a Russian attack that damaged administrative buildings, warehouses and a cafe, regional head Volodymyr Kohut said. The strike caused now-extinguished fires, and debris fell on a private home.
Russian forces also struck the Khmelnytskyi region overnight, damaging a private residential building, outbuildings, a fence, and several vehicles, regional governor Serhii Tiuryn said.
Meanwhile, air defence forces shot down three Russian missiles over the western Lviv region overnight, the regional head Maksym Kozytskyi said.
The assault comes as hopes for a truce between Russia and Ukraine seemed to be faltering, despite two rounds of direct talks in Istanbul.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said it may be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” rather than pursue peace immediately – a remarkable shift from Trump’s previous appeals for a quick end to the war.
Earlier this week, Putin told Trump in a telephone conversation that Moscow would have to respond to the earlier huge Ukrainian drone attacks deep inside Russia against Russian military warplanes.
