Russia unleashed a massive attack on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and other cities across the country on Sunday, deploying nearly 600 drones and dozens of missiles. This sustained twelve-hour barrage tragically killed at least four people in Kyiv and left dozens more civilians injured.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the assault, stating, “A massive Russian attack on Ukraine lasted for more than 12 hours. Savage strikes, a deliberate, targeted terror against ordinary cities.”
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, the offensive commenced on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. and persisted through Sunday morning. They reported that roughly 600 drones and 48 missiles were part of the assault, with five missiles and 31 drones successfully bypassing air defenses.
Officials in Ukraine confirmed that over 70 individuals were wounded nationwide, including two rescue workers. They also warned that the casualty figures are expected to climb as 1,500 emergency personnel and police officers were dispatched across 11 regions to provide aid and search for survivors.
President Zelensky pledged a strong response to these latest attacks and reiterated his call for Ukraine’s allies to maintain pressure on Russia for an immediate cease-fire. He stated, “This vile attack came virtually as the close of U.N. General Assembly week, and this is exactly how Russia declares its true position.”
During his recent visit to the United Nations in New York, Zelensky had sought to impress upon global leaders that Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine has ignited “the most destructive arms race in human history” and that the conflict’s violence is likely to spread far beyond his country’s borders.
Officials identified Kyiv as the primary target of Sunday’s assault, noting that a 12-year-old girl was among those killed. Significant damage was reported to Ukraine’s Cardiology Institute, an industrial bakery, a tire manufacturing plant, and numerous homes and apartment buildings.
In the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, Russian rocket attacks injured at least 38 people and damaged 14 apartment buildings. Additional strikes were reported in Sumy, Odesa, and other regions.
Since its full-scale invasion began in February 2022, Russia has relentlessly targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, military production sites, critical railway hubs, and other vital facilities. These attacks have also extended to residential areas, a tactic military analysts believe is designed to erode the Ukrainian populace’s will to resist.
Despite the Russian military’s failure to achieve major breakthroughs on the front lines in recent months, Moscow has escalated its bombardment efforts, aiming to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defense capabilities.
Russia has increasingly relied on attack drones in its offensives, drastically ramping up their production and manufacturing. In response, Ukraine has also intensified its long-range strikes deep inside Russian territory.
However, the significant increase in Russia’s drone supply, combined with advanced technology and evolving tactics, presents a formidable challenge for Ukraine, which had initially held an advantage in drone warfare but has seen that edge diminish.
This situation has lent new urgency to the development of countermeasures. General Oleksandr Syrsky, Ukraine’s top military commander, announced this week in Kyiv that a new branch of the Air Force dedicated to unmanned air-defense systems has been established to combat the growing threat.
He further elaborated that Ukraine is outfitting helicopters with specialized equipment to intercept drones and has explored the use of light aircraft fitted with machine-gun mounts.
Simultaneously, Ukraine continues to depend heavily on its Western allies for advanced air-defense systems capable of protecting against Russia’s most potent ballistic missiles.
On Saturday, President Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine recently received a Patriot system from Israel, with two more such systems anticipated in the autumn. He did not disclose the supplying nations for these additional systems.
The American-made Patriot system is recognized globally as one of the few reliable defenses against ballistic missiles, and Ukrainian officials credit it with saving countless lives.
Hours before the latest bombardment, President Zelensky issued another warning, asserting that the Kremlin harbors ambitions extending beyond Ukraine. He cited recent incursions by Russian drones and fighter jets into NATO airspace as a direct challenge to the alliance.
Zelensky conveyed on social media, “Russia is testing Europe’s ability to defend itself and trying to influence societies so that people start thinking: ‘Why are we giving so much to Ukrainians, but we can’t protect ourselves?’ This is to reduce aid to Ukraine, especially before winter.”