Twelve people died in the night from Saturday to Sunday due to a wave of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine. Kyiv was among the cities attacked. The Ukrainian army speaks of the largest drone attack since the Russian invasion.
The fatalities occurred in various locations throughout the country, according to national Ukrainian emergency services on Telegram. In the vicinity of Kyiv, four people died. The fire department recovered, among others, two dead bodies from a burnt-out house in Obukhiv, a town just outside Kyiv.
Authorities in Kyiv had warned the population that a drone attack was imminent. They urged residents to seek safe shelter.
Russia also attacked other Ukrainian cities with drones. Cities far into Ukraine were targeted. For example, four people died in Khmelnytskyi, in western Ukraine. And in Zhytomyr, about 100 kilometers west of Kyiv, three children died.
The last victim was in the southern city of Mykolaiv. In addition, more than sixty people were injured throughout the country.
Explosions Heard Every Five to Minutes
The attack began with dozens of drones flying towards Kyiv from various directions. Explosions could be heard every five to ten minutes during the night. In addition to the drones, Russia also fired several cruise missiles.
Russia attacked with 367 drones and missiles, the Ukrainian air force was able to shoot down 266 drones and 45 missiles. This would be the largest Russian air attack since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, according to a spokesperson for the air force to press agency.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemns the new attack by Russia. “Every Russian terrorist attack is a reason for new sanctions against Russia,” he writes on Telegram. “Russia is prolonging this war.”
Zelenskyy again addresses other government leaders. “Without strong pressure on the Russian government, these atrocities cannot be stopped. Putin must be forced to think not about launching missiles, but about ending the war.”
On the night from Friday to Saturday, Russia also carried out a drone attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. In total, thirteen people died, including in Odesa. There were no fatalities in Kyiv at that time, but thirteen people were injured.
No Peace Negotiations Yet
Despite efforts by, among others, U.S. President Donald Trump, peace talks between Ukraine and Russia have not yet started. Trump was optimistic about such talks last week, after he spoke by phone with both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy and Putin were more reserved in their response. Putin continued to maintain that he wants to remove “the root causes of this crisis.” That is a statement that Putin makes more often, without it being clear what he means by it. Zelenskyy responded that Ukraine will not give in to Russian demands, such as control of five Ukrainian regions.
The phone calls with Trump took place a few days after consultations between delegations from Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul. These have also yielded few concrete agreements. Both countries did agree to exchange a thousand prisoners of war each. The first prisoners were exchanged on Friday and Saturday.
Ukraine and Russia have so far made agreements to exchange prisoners on a somewhat regular basis. But this week’s exchange is the largest since the Russian invasion in 2022.