Russia Unleashes Devastating Barrage on Ukraine: Scores Dead as Missiles and Drones Ravage Cities

Russia Unleashes Devastating Barrage on Ukraine:

Russia has launched a deadly onslaught across Ukraine, bombarding several major cities and leaving at least 18 people dead in one of the most intense attacks in recent months.

According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian forces fired 73 missiles and 656 drones overnight, primarily targeting Kyiv, Dnipro, and the eastern cities of Poltava, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia. More than 100 people, including multiple children, were injured in this large-scale assault.

The attack began just after midnight, with air raid sirens sounding before the barrage ceased at 4:39am. Ukrainian air defense reported successfully intercepting 40 missiles and 602 drones.

This wave of attacks comes after Moscow threatened “systematic strikes” in retaliation for an alleged Ukrainian attack on a student dormitory in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine last week, which killed 21 people.

Russia claimed its latest barrage was a response to what it described as Ukrainian “terrorist acts” on Russian soil, asserting that multiple military targets were struck. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated, “This practice will continue.”

The Russian Defense Ministry released a statement saying: “Overnight, in response to terrorist acts by the Kyiv regime, the Russian armed forces carried out a massive strike using high-precision long-range weapons from the air, land, and sea.”

Dramatic images emerging from across Ukraine showed homes and businesses engulfed in flames, with families picking through the wreckage of their destroyed neighborhoods. In Kyiv alone, at least six people were killed and 63 wounded, including three children, according to the state emergency service. Around 140,000 people in Kyiv lost power as a result of the strikes.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that a fire broke out in a nine-story apartment building after missile debris from a nearby strike landed on the roof. He added: “In the Obolon district, cars are burning due to falling missile fragments. Fires have also broken out in two other open areas, one of which is near a kindergarten.”

In the Dnipropetrovsk region, at least 12 people died and 36 were injured after Russian strikes hit Dnipro. An eight-year-old boy and a woman were rescued from the rubble of an apartment building, while a follow-up strike killed an emergency worker at the scene.

Kharkiv also suffered, with at least 14 people injured and significant damage to homes, garages, and cars. Missile and drone strikes trapped residents under collapsed buildings. Russian forces reportedly used a mix of ballistic, cruise, and even anti-ship missiles.

Olena Dniprovska, 65, and her husband Yevhen, 64, were among those injured in Kyiv’s Podilskyi district. Olena described the terrifying moment: “I went into the corridor with my phone, and before I realized what was happening, everything crashed down—glass, the door blown off. I ran out and called for my husband, but he too had been thrown by the blast. Now I have nowhere to live—the apartment is completely destroyed, no doors, no windows, no balcony. You can step from the room straight outside.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned on Monday of a possible “massive” Russian attack, stating: “Intelligence reports indicate that a major strike is possible. Our defenders are on full alert with whatever supplies we have.”

The Kremlin’s escalation comes as Ukraine has intensified its own strikes deep inside Russia, targeting the oil sector that finances Putin’s war. While Russian airstrikes have killed civilians, Ukrainian drones attacked the Ilsky Oil Refinery in Russia’s Krasnodar region—marking the fourth such strike on the facility and the latest in a series of attacks aimed at crippling Russia’s war economy.