By Peter Omopo
Kyiv, Ukraine — Russia launched its largest aerial assault of the war early Sunday, striking Ukraine’s capital with a record barrage of drones and missiles that killed at least six people and set the roof of Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers ablaze.
Emergency services battled flames and damage to several high-rise buildings in Kyiv as residents described the attack as both terrifying and routine. “They first grab the Shaheds [Iranian-designed drones], then the rockets come,” said Olga, a 30-year-old whose apartment block was damaged.
Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia fired 810 drones and 13 missiles overnight, marking the heaviest single attack since the invasion began three and a half years ago.
The strikes killed a mother and her two-month-old son when a nine-story apartment block was hit in western Kyiv. A pregnant woman, injured in the blast, gave birth prematurely, with doctors now fighting for her and the baby’s lives. Elsewhere, four more civilians were killed in the country’s east and southeast. Even an equestrian club outside Kyiv suffered losses, with seven horses killed.
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko condemned the assault, vowing to rebuild. “We will restore the buildings. But we cannot bring back lost lives. The enemy terrorises and kills our people every day,” she said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of deliberately prolonging the war. “Such killings now, when real diplomacy could have already begun long ago, are a deliberate crime,” he wrote on Facebook.
European leaders swiftly condemned the attack. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said the Kremlin was “mocking diplomacy once again,” while Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pledged continued solidarity with Ukraine.
Russia claimed it targeted Ukraine’s “military-industrial complex and transport infrastructure,” without acknowledging the government building hit.
The assault comes as U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to broker peace stall. Meanwhile, Russia continues slow territorial gains in the east, now occupying about 20 percent of Ukraine. Tens of thousands have died since the war began, Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.
