Firefighters in Kyiv rushed to put out fires after a powerful Russian missile strike hit the city early Sunday morning. The attack came as part of a major air assault ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, involving nuclear-capable bombers. NATO responded by sending fighter jets into the air, concerned about the scale and intensity of the strike.
The bombing began around 5 a.m. local time. Kyiv residents woke to the sound of explosions as waves of cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and explosive drones targeted the city. Fires broke out in several neighborhoods.
People scrambled to metro stations for shelter as emergency sirens filled the air. In one district, a furniture store was hit and burned to the ground. Nearby warehouses caught fire. In another area, an office building was badly damaged, and parked cars went up in flames. Debris from the missiles damaged several other buildings across the city. Paramedics, firefighters, and rescue workers were deployed to multiple locations as the situation escalated.
Ukrainian authorities reported that at least three people were injured in Kyiv. The city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, confirmed that fires were still being dealt with and urged people to remain in shelters. Falling wreckage from the intercepted missiles caused widespread damage across at least three different city districts.
This attack came just hours after another Russian strike hit President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih. That earlier attack killed 18 people, including nine children. Russia claimed the target was a gathering of Ukrainian and foreign soldiers. However, local officials accused Moscow of deliberately attacking civilians. Photos of the children who died—some as young as toddlers—were widely shared on Ukrainian social media channels. One message said the world needs to see these images to understand that Russia is intentionally killing civilians and that Putin has no real interest in peace.
Sunday’s air assault involved at least four Russian Tu-95MS bombers, which launched cruise missiles from above the Caspian Sea. In addition to those, Kalibr missiles were fired from the Black Sea, and Iskander-M ballistic missiles along with Shahed drones were also used in the attack. The coordinated strike marked one of the most sustained and aggressive missile attacks since the war began.
NATO scrambled its jets in response to what they described as “intensive activity” by Russia’s long-range bombers near Ukraine’s borders. Poland confirmed that both its own fighter jets and those from other NATO countries had been deployed. Poland’s military issued a statement saying that all available resources had been activated, and both ground-based air defence and monitoring systems were placed on high alert. The goal, they said, was to ensure security in areas close to the conflict zone.
Russian strikes were also reported in Uman, located in the Cherkasy region, and in Kupyansk, in the Kharkiv region. In one of those attacks, an aerial bomb set an apartment building on fire, injuring an elderly man and woman.
Ukrainian leaders said the intensity and timing of this latest wave of missile strikes show that Putin is not serious about peace, despite recent talk of negotiations. Even suggestions from political figures like Donald Trump about brokering peace appear to be falling on deaf ears in Moscow.
A NATO official confirmed that there are no signs that Russia is preparing to stop the war. According to them, there’s no indication that Russia’s goals have changed at all since the invasion began.
President Zelensky expressed frustration with Washington for not openly condemning Russia’s role in the killing of civilians in Kryvyi Rih. He said that staying silent about Russia using ballistic missiles to kill children is not only wrong but dangerous. He warned that such silence only encourages Moscow to continue the war and ignore any diplomatic efforts to resolve it. In his words, weakness has never ended a war—it only fuels it.
Meanwhile, President Putin has not been seen in public since the latest attacks started. Russian state media only aired a pre-recorded meeting with the Culture Minister from Friday, sparking speculation about his whereabouts.
The situation remains tense, and Ukraine continues to brace for further attacks as the war grinds on with no end in sight.
