Kyiv endured its most intense barrage of Russian drone strikes yet, just hours after Vladimir Putin dismissed a US-brokered truce bid. The BBC reports the overnight strikes targeted nearly every district in the Ukrainian capital, sending air raid sirens blaring for more than eight hours, with President Zelensky calling it a "harsh, sleepless night" and a "demonstratively significant and cynical" attack. "What Kyiv endured last night, cannot be called anything but a deliberate act of terror," Ukraine's Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko wrote on X. She described a "sustained, 7 hour coordinated attack" that sent "families running into metro stations, basements, underground parking garages, mass destruction in the heart of our capital."
Footage showed firefighters battling blazes, and authorities reported at least 23 people wounded, with railway infrastructure, schools, buildings, and vehicles damaged. Poland's embassy was also reportedly hit. Ukraine's air force noted that 72 of the 550 drones and missiles launched managed to penetrate defenses; that outpaces the previous record of 537 drones and missiles launched last Saturday night. The AP gives context:
- "Russia has been stepping up its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities. Less than a week ago Russia launched what was then the largest aerial assault of the war. That strategy has coincided with a concerted Russian effort to break through parts of the roughly 620-mile front line, where Ukrainian troops are under severe pressure.
The barrage followed a Thursday phone call between President Trump and Putin. When asked if he made any progress with Putin on a deal to end the fighting, Trump replied, "No, I didn't make any progress with him today at all. I'm not happy about that. I'm not happy about that. ... I don't think he's looking to stop" the war.
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