Russia launched one of its heaviest overnight attacks on Kyiv, firing hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at the Ukrainian capital in a strike that tore through residential buildings, killed at least 18 people and wounded more than 90, according to Reuters.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, speaking from Ukraine exclusively with Fox News Digital, said the assault marked “the most horrific night for Kyiv since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.”
“Early this morning, I spoke with my mother-in-law, who is in Kyiv. She told me she had never been so terrified. It felt as if the biblical Apocalypse were unfolding before her very eyes. Everyone was praying.”
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The explosions shook central Kyiv for hours as thousands of residents rushed into bomb shelters and underground metro stations. The attack caused the widest destruction in Kyiv so far in 2026 and was the deadliest strike on the capital since at least May, when 24 people were killed in an attack that brought down an apartment block.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 74 missiles and 496 drones overnight, according to Reuters.
Yuri Ihnat, the Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson, said the number of ballistic missiles was unusually high and that the interception rate for them was low, as Ukraine continues to face shortages of Patriot missiles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who cut short a visit to Ireland and returned to Ukraine, said damage had been reported at more than 20 sites across the capital.
“The main strike was directed at Kyiv,” Zelenskyy said. “Air defence supplies for Ukraine are an absolute and critical priority.”
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Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko declared Friday a day of mourning and said damage had been recorded across the city of roughly 3 million people.
Melnyk told Fox News Digital the attack should force the international community to confront Russia’s status inside the U.N. Security Council.
“And yet, this barbaric Russia continues to be treated at the U.N. as a normal member state,” he said. “It is time to end this parallel reality. Russia’s status as a permanent member of the Security Council should finally be called into question. Russia should be treated for what it has become: a pariah state.”
Emergency crews searched through the rubble of a nine-story building on the left bank of the Dnipro River as fires continued to burn after sunrise. City officials said some people remained trapped inside damaged residential buildings.
East2West footage showed the overnight barrage from inside Kyiv, including a baby sleeping as explosions flashed outside an open window and smoke from an earlier strike rose nearby. Other footage showed residents sheltering near a metro station as strikes hit the capital, as well as heavy damage across Kyiv, including residential buildings torn apart and thick smoke hanging over parts of the city.
More than 20 sites were damaged, including residential buildings, diplomatic accommodation and the National Institute of Biochemistry, where a state-of-the-art laboratory and offices were gutted.
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Katarina Mathernova, the European Union’s ambassador to Ukraine, said Russia “unleashed hell on Kyiv” overnight and struck accommodation used by diplomatic personnel. Diplomats were not injured, but their belongings were damaged in a fire that engulfed the building, she said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a Telegram post that its “massive attack” used long-range, high-precision weapons and drones to strike military and energy facilities, as well as airports in Kyiv and other locations. Moscow said the attack was retaliation for Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia.
Ukraine said it hit an oil refinery overnight in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region, where the regional governor reported one person killed in a strike on an industrial facility.
The Kremlin said Russian military commanders briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin on the attacks and said Moscow would continue increasing pressure on Ukraine to achieve its war aims.
Poland, a NATO and European Union member that borders Ukraine, briefly scrambled fighter jets as a preventive measure. Finland also briefly issued a temporary aviation restriction zone in the eastern Gulf of Finland, its defense forces said.
Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Țoiu told Fox News Digital that Russian drones were detected in Ukraine roughly 30 kilometers from Romania’s border Wednesday, prompting NATO air-policing aircraft to respond.
“Two Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft deployed under the Enhanced Air Policing mission and operating from the 86th Air Base in Fetești in Romania, were scrambled to monitor the Romanian airspace situation near the border with Ukraine,” Țoiu said. “A Romanian Air Force IAR 330 Puma helicopter was also deployed. Such incidents have constantly accompanied Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Thursday that she would propose new sanctions on entities supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex in response to the strikes.
“The more Moscow attacks civilians, the more sanctions must be imposed,” Kallas said in a post on X.
Russia has killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians in strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians but says attacks on what it calls civil infrastructure are legitimate because they affect Ukraine’s ability to wage war.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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