Russia unleashed its most devastating aerial offensive in months overnight, launching over 700 drones and missiles across Ukraine in coordinated waves that killed at least 18 people and left multiple cities without power.
Ukrainian officials reported the deadliest attack since the beginning of the year, with casualties spread across multiple regions. In the southern port city of Odesa, nine people lost their lives, while five were killed in the central city of Dnipro. The capital Kyiv suffered four fatalities, including a 12-year-old boy, with 45 others injured in the bombardment.
"Russia is betting on war, and that is exactly how the response should be – we must protect lives with all our might and press for peace with all our might as well," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared on social media platform X.
The assault began in the early hours of Thursday when air raid sirens jolted Kyiv residents awake at 2:30 AM local time. Eyewitness footage showed bright orange fires and towering plumes of black smoke rising from central districts, with one video capturing a drone slamming directly into an apartment building.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that emergency crews rescued a mother and child from the collapsed ruins of a 16-story residential building in the Podil district. Four emergency medical workers were among those injured in the northern part of the capital.
Ukrainian air defenses managed to intercept 636 drones and 31 missiles, but 26 locations suffered direct hits. The attacks left the southern cities of Mykolaiv and Kherson without electricity, while in Kharkiv, a 77-year-old woman and 66-year-old man were injured by a drone strike.
The massive bombardment comes just days after a brief Orthodox Easter ceasefire that both sides accused each other of violating hundreds of times. Ukrainian officials condemned the timing of the attack, with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha calling it a "war crime" and urging allies to increase pressure on Moscow.
Zelensky had warned earlier this week about Ukraine's critical shortage of Patriot air defense missiles, the only system capable of intercepting Russia's ballistic missiles. Global stocks of the US-made weapons are limited, with many diverted to the Middle East since hostilities escalated between the US, Israel, and Iran in February.
Ukraine is also pressing for the release of a €90 billion EU loan package now that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who had blocked the funding, has been voted out of power. The funds would be split between defense needs and economic support.
In a retaliatory strike, Ukrainian drones attacked Russia's Krasnodar region, killing two people including a 14-year-old girl in the city of Tuapse and injuring five others, according to local officials.
The conflict, now in its fifth year, has seen multiple stalled peace initiatives. Ukraine has proposed an immediate ceasefire as a first step toward negotiations, while Russia insists on agreeing to peace terms first—a position Kyiv says demonstrates Moscow's lack of seriousness about ending the fighting.