Just ask residents of Kyiv who withstood an ugly barrage on Thursday night. Just last week, Russian forces attacked this city with a record number of drones and ballistic missiles. The multi-pronged attack started around 2 a.m. local time and stretched over the course of seven hours, ending around 9 a.m. The operation saw the use of more than 550 aerial assets. This particular air raid was one of the fiercest on the Ukrainian capital since Russia invaded, signaling a particularly brutal air campaign against Ukraine.
The massive missile and drone assault turned the air over the Ukrainian capital to thick black smoke. Officials reported at least 23 individuals injured in the attacks. Out of the 550 drones and cruise missiles launched, 72 of them were able to accurately hit their targets throughout the city, bringing relentless destruction. Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, confirmed that damage was recorded in six of the city’s ten districts.
Residential areas in the Holosiivskyi district suffered heavy consequences as debris from a downed drone caused a fire at an emergency medical center. In Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district, drones caused two large fires. One was set on a commercially-leased rooftop, and the other in a courtyard between multifamily buildings. A residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district suffered serious damage from the attack. Oksana Yerokhanova, chief of the district, told reporters at the scene that their explosions were heard in at least four areas across Kyiv.
Today’s attack continues an alarming new trend of intensified Russian airstrikes on the Ukrainian capital. These strikes have largely increased activity in recent weeks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the morning raid, calling the attack an “act of terror.” He pointed out that the attack occurred “immediately following the call between Washington and Moscow,” suggesting a correlation between diplomatic discussions and military actions.
He called for “strengthened sanctions” and “immediate delivery of air defense systems,” urging a shift from caution to clarity in global responses to Russian aggression.
“There must be consequences – not eventually, but now,” – Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy, echoed these sentiments, stating that any communication between U.S. officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin “inevitably results in massive demonstrative shelling of Kyiv – with enormous destruction.” This astute observation emphasizes a deep frustration among Ukrainian officials about the effect that international diplomacy is having on their security predicament.
In reaction to these actions, Ukraine brought an unprecedented war crime charge against Putin. They argued that he “publicly humiliated” former U.S. President Donald Trump, since the attack came just hours after their phone call. Reacting afterwards, Trump derided the entire process, lamenting what he viewed as poor results from all his diplomatic tête-à-tête with Putin.
The raid’s extensive nature and its timing raise pressing questions about the effectiveness of current diplomatic approaches to mitigate ongoing hostilities. Kyiv has never faced such brutal aerial bombardment. Unsatisfied with these inadequacies, a succession of opinion has called for a re-evaluation of the global response to Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“I’m not happy about that. No, I didn’t make any progress with him today at all,” – Donald Trump
The raid’s extensive nature and its timing raise pressing questions about the effectiveness of current diplomatic approaches to mitigate ongoing hostilities. With Kyiv facing unprecedented levels of aerial assaults, many are calling for a reassessment of international strategies regarding Russia’s military actions.