Drones and missiles pound Ukraine
Ukraine has endured one of the heaviest Russian aerial barrages of the war, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemning the 12-hour bombardment as “savage” and “deliberate terror”.
Officials said nearly 500 attack drones and more than 40 missiles, including ballistic weapons, were fired in the overnight assault, leaving four people dead and dozens injured. A 12-year-old girl was among the victims when a residential block in Kyiv was struck.
Cities under fire
The capital was hit alongside the regions of Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolayiv, Chernihiv and Odesa. Air raid sirens forced residents to seek shelter as explosions shook Kyiv, while thick smoke rose above the city of four million.
Across the country, at least 40 people were wounded, including children. Authorities said Ukraine’s limited air defences had intercepted many targets but could not prevent widespread damage.
Regional fallout
The attack also rattled Poland, which briefly closed part of its airspace near Lublin and Rzeszów after detecting the threat. Polish jets were scrambled, with Dutch and German allies providing support through deployed Patriot systems. Warsaw later confirmed no airspace had been breached.
“This is exactly how Russia declares its true position – it wants to keep fighting and killing,” Zelenskyy said, urging tougher global pressure on Moscow.
Calls for support
The Ukrainian leader renewed appeals for further air defence batteries, noting that two additional Patriot systems are due this autumn but warning more were urgently needed. He also pressed allies to block Russian energy revenues, saying nations seeking peace “must back President Trump’s efforts and halt any Russian imports”.
The strikes come amid stalled peace talks and renewed debate in Europe over using frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s defence.
