Russia carried out its most extensive aerial attack since the start of the war in Ukraine, launching more than 800 drones overnight into Sunday and striking a government building in Kyiv for the first time.
An infant was among at least two people killed when drones hit residential buildings in the capital, where air-raid sirens sounded for 11 consecutive hours, according to Kyiv city officials. President Volodymyr Zelensky said a total of four people were killed and 44 injured nationwide.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 810 drones, four ballistic missiles, and nine cruise missiles. While most were intercepted, 54 drones and nine missiles reached their targets. The scale of the assault exceeded the previous record attack in July.
The strike comes amid renewed but faltering international efforts to broker peace. In an interview with ABC News on Sunday, Zelensky criticized U.S. President Donald Trump, saying he had “given [Russian President Vladimir] Putin what he wanted” during last month’s Alaska summit, which ended without progress.
Later that day, Trump signaled that his administration is prepared to move to a second phase of sanctions against Russia. “Yeah, I am,” he told reporters when asked about expanding punitive measures.
Zelensky condemned the latest assault as “vile,” accusing Moscow of prolonging the conflict. “Such killings now, when real diplomacy could have started a long time ago, are a deliberate crime,” he said. “The world can make the Kremlin’s criminals stop killing. All we need is political will.”
Keith Kellogg, the Trump administration’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, suggested Moscow is escalating rather than de-escalating. “The attack on Kyiv was not a signal that Russia wants to diplomatically end this war,” he said Sunday.
Earlier in the week, Putin warned that any deployment of Western troops to Ukraine would be treated as “legitimate targets for defeat.” His remarks followed pledges by dozens of countries to contribute to a potential peacekeeping force if a ceasefire is reached.
Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko described Sunday’s assault as a “massive attack,” noting that Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro, Kremenchuk, and Odesa were among the cities hit. She confirmed that the building housing the prime minister’s office and several ministries was struck, causing damage to its roof and upper floors.
“For the first time, the government building was damaged by enemy attacks. Rescuers are extinguishing the fire. I thank them for their work,” Svyrydenko said. The building, located in Kyiv’s government quarter, sits near parliament and the presidential office.
“We will rebuild the buildings. But the lives lost cannot be brought back. Every day, the enemy terrorizes and kills our people,” she added.
Defense Minister Denys Shmygal said Ukraine would convene a meeting in the coming week focused on strengthening air defenses and improving its capacity to strike inside Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces reported hitting two energy facilities in Russia’s Bryansk region and the southern Krasnodar Territory overnight.
