Russia bombarded six regions of Ukraine on Friday, Ukrainian officials said, with a nighttime assault lasting for hours and leaving three emergency responders in the capital Kyiv dead.
The barrage included 407 drones and 44 ballistic and cruise missiles, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said. Ukrainian forces said they shot down about 30 of the cruise missiles and up to 200 of the drones.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as the Ukrainian Interior Ministry and the general prosecutor’s office, said three emergency workers were killed.
“They were working under fire to help people,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko had earlier put the death toll at four.
Ukrainian cities have come under regular bombardment since Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022. The attacks have killed more than 12,000 civilians, according to the United Nations.
‘Life flashed before my eyes’: Kyiv teen
In Kyiv, multiple explosions were heard for hours in the capital, where falling debris sparked fires across several districts as air defence systems attempted to intercept incoming targets, said Kyiv City Administration head Tymur Tkachenko.
“Our air defence crews are doing everything possible. But we must protect one another — stay safe,” Tkachenko wrote on Telegram, urging people to seek shelter.
Twice a year, a volunteer team of medical staff travels to western Ukraine to treat soldiers and civilians with severe facial injuries from the war. Radio-Canada’s Raphaël Bouvier-Auclair visited the Canadian organization’s clinic to see the life-changing transformations.
Fourteen-year-old Kyiv resident Vitalina Vasylchenko sheltered in a parking garage with her six-year-old sister and their mother after an explosion blew one of their windows off its hinges.
“I heard a buzzing sound, then my dad ran to me and covered me with his hand, then there was a very loud explosion,” she said. “My whole life flashed before my eyes, I already thought that was it. I started having a panic attack.… I’m shocked that I’m alive.”
Ukraine’s human rights chief Dmytro Lubinets called for a strong international response to Russia’s latest overnight attack, 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.”
Expect Russia retaliation, Trump says
Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed it had aimed at Ukrainian military targets with “long-range precision weapons” and successfully struck arms depots, drone factories and repair facilities, among other targets.
Elsewhere, 10 people were injured by an aerial attack on the western Ukraine city of Ternopil, regional governor Viacheslav Nehoda said. The strike damaged industrial and infrastructure facilities, left parts of the city without electricity, and disrupted water supplies.
The war has continued unabated even as a U.S.-led diplomatic push for a settlement has brought two rounds of direct peace talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine. The negotiations delivered no significant breakthroughs, however, and the sides remain far apart on their terms for an end to the fighting.
Ukraine has offered an unconditional 30-day ceasefire and a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian leader Vladimir Putin to break the deadlock. But the Kremlin has effectively rejected a truce and hasn’t budged from its demands.
Ukrainian drones struck deep into enemy territory in Russia, with officials claiming the attack destroyed over 40 Russian warplanes. Andrew Chang explains how Ukraine is believed to have pulled off what it describes as its longest-range attack against Russia, and how it says it was able to do so undetected.
Images provided by Getty Images, The Canadian Press and Reuters.
According to U.S. President Donald Trump, Putin said in a phone call that Russia would respond to last week’s daring long-range attack launched by Ukraine on Russian airbases.
The nighttime attack came hours after Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” before pulling them apart and pursuing peace, in comments that were a remarkable detour from Trump’s often-stated appeals to stop the war.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, asked about the comment on Friday, said: “Here, of course, the U.S. president may have his own point of view on what is happening, but for us this is an existential question, this is a question of our national interests.”
In Russia, air defences shot down 10 Ukrainian drones heading toward the capital early Friday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Flights at Moscow airports were temporarily suspended during the night as a precaution.
Ukrainian drones also targeted three other regions of Russia, authorities said, damaging apartment buildings and industrial plants. Three people were injured, officials said.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said that air defences downed 174 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions early Friday. It added that three Ukrainian Neptune missiles were also shot down over the Black Sea.
Also, a locomotive derailed early Friday in the Belgorod region after the track was blown up, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Russia has recently accused Ukraine of sabotaging the rail network.
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