KYIV — Early Sunday, a large wave of Russian missiles and drones struck Kyiv, sparking fires and shaking buildings across the city.
Kyiv mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said at least two people were killed and at least 77 others injured, and that damage was reported in “every district of the city.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced additional EU support to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses, condemning the attack as evidence of “the Kremlin’s brutality and disregard for both human life and peace negotiations,” and saying “terror against civilians is not strength. It’s despair.”
Ukraine’s culture minister reported extensive cultural losses, saying the strikes damaged the largest number of cultural institutions in Kyiv since the 2022 invasion. Among the losses she cited were the museum dedicated to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and one of the city’s oldest markets, which burned down.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched about 600 drones and some 90 missiles, including a hypersonic ballistic missile described as the Oreshnik. Ukrainian defenses intercepted most of the drones and more than half of the missiles, the military said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned earlier that large strikes, including an Oreshnik, were expected after receiving intelligence from European and U.S. partners. In a social media video he said an Oreshnik hit Bila Tserkva, about 50 miles south of Kyiv, and called the attackers “unhinged.”
Russia’s defense ministry later confirmed use of the Oreshnik. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously described the missile as traveling “like a meteorite,” saying it cannot be stopped by air defenses and can destroy underground bunkers.
Moscow said the strikes were ordered in retaliation after it blamed Ukraine for a drone attack on a college in Starobilsk in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine; Russia’s emergency agency reported at least 21 people killed and 42 injured in that incident. Ukraine denies targeting the college.
Observers say negotiations to end the war remain stalled as international attention and resources are diverted by other regional conflicts. U.S. officials have also moved to ease some restrictions on Russian oil exports, citing energy shortfalls, a decision that analysts say has economic implications for the conflict.
Oil revenues remain a crucial source of funding for Russia’s military, and Ukraine has increasingly used long-range drone strikes to target Russian oil refineries, depots and export facilities, as well as logistics and ammunition hubs on occupied territory.
NPR recently embedded with a Ukrainian unit that launches long-range drones into Russia. A member of that unit using the callsign Uki watched one drone lift off and said such strikes are a way for Ukraine to impose pressure that could help force a “just and lasting peace.”
NPR producer Polina Lytvynova contributed to this report.