Russia launched one of its biggest ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities early on Sunday, a five-hour assault that killed at least six people and wounded dozens more, officials said. The capital was struck by about 40 missiles, including Iskander-M and hypersonic Zircon missiles, with air raid sirens sounding at 1.30am and again at 6.30am.
Houses shook and car alarms blared as explosions rocked the city centre. A three-storey building caught fire in the Shevchenkivskyi district, where rescuers recovered a body. Four other areas were hit, with fires reported at offices, residential buildings and a dormitory. The Lukianivska metro station was temporarily closed after its ceiling collapsed from a blast wave.
Separately, a Russian missile strike on a Turkish-owned cargo ship carrying grain near Odesa killed six crew members, including a Ukrainian maritime pilot, and left four missing. The vessel, the Golden Leo, was flying the flag of Guinea-Bissau when it was hit after leaving port. An attack on a postal facility near Kharkiv later killed three and wounded at least 20, while strikes on Kherson and Sumy each left one dead.
Kyiv’s military said it shot down 18 of the missiles and 108 out of 125 drones. “The missiles just kept coming one after another, the explosions were powerful, it was horrible,” said 47-year-old resident Ganna Zagorodnia. “I thought that life was just about to end.”
The assault comes as Ukraine pleads for more anti-ballistic defences. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv and Washington had reached a political agreement on licences to produce Patriot interceptors, but stocks have dwindled. “Protection against ballistic missiles is our constant and top priority right now,” he said, urging partners to accelerate supplies.
