Vladimir Putin has bombarded Kyiv with a relentless seven-hour missile and drone assault, just days after appearing at the first in-person negotiations for a possible ceasefire.
Scenes in the Ukrainian capital were described as “hellish”, with an orange glow lighting the sky and billowing smoke from explosions and gunfire — marking one of the largest-scale attacks since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.
Russian forces launched 14 Iskander-M or KN-23 ballistic missiles, alongside 250 Shahed-type attack drones and decoy drones.
Ukraine’s air defences shot down 128 drones, while a further 117 were either neutralised by electronic warfare systems or vanished from radar.
“With each such attack, the world becomes more certain that the cause of prolonging the war lies in Moscow," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on X.
Zelensky said fires and explosions broke out across Kyiv during the “difficult night” with homes and businesses hit by strikes or falling debris.
Olha Chyrukha, a 64-year-old local resident, told Reuters news agency: "I wish they'd agree to a ceasefire. To bomb people like this - poor children. My three-year-old granddaughter was screaming scared."
Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, said the city was "under a combined enemy attack" and that fragments from a drone hit the top floor of a housing block in Solomyanskyi district.
One block of flats was engulfed in flames in the area, alongside a non-residential building.
Mr Klitschko wrote on Telegram: "Emergency services are working on the ground. Stay in shelters until the air alarm is canceled! The attack on the capital continues."
Russia has issued its own claims that drone factory in the Antonov aircraft-making plant in Kyiv had been hit.
The overnight attack continued this morning, despite a major prisoner exchange being agreed at a meeting in Istanbul last week which will see a ‘1,000-for-1,000’ swap.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky says 390 Ukrainians have been brought home in the first phase, with more releases expected over the weekend.
Russia's defence ministry confirmed it has received the same number of returned prisoners from Ukraine.
