Russian forces launched what Ukrainian authorities described as a record aerial assault early Sunday, firing at least 805 attack drones alongside more than a dozen ballistic and cruise missiles at cities across the country, killing civilians and inflicting widespread damage.
Ukrainian officials said a 32-year-old woman and her two-month-old son were killed when a residential building was struck in the Sviatoshynskyi district of Kyiv. Rescuers pulled the child's father from the rubble with injuries, and authorities reported additional deaths and dozens of wounded in multiple regions. A woman was reported killed in the Sumy region, and emergency services reported seven people wounded there.
Ukrainian officials said the strikes also damaged the Cabinet of Ministers building in Kyiv — the first time the offices had been struck during the conflict — and hit high-rise apartment blocks, a nursery school and transport infrastructure. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the greatest damage in the city was to a nine-story residential building, with partial destruction from the fourth to the eighth floors, and that rescuers had recovered two bodies with search operations continuing.
Cities and regions hit in the barrage included Kyiv, Odesa, Kryvyi Rih, Kremenchuk, Khmelnytskyi, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian officials said. They reported strikes on energy infrastructure, a key bridge over the Dnipro River, a dam area near Svitlovodsk, and an airfield in Khmelnytskyi region. Footage circulated on social media showed explosions and fires in Kremenchuk and damage to the Kryukovskiy bridge, a major road and rail link in Poltava region.
Ukrainian authorities initially acknowledged the scale of the assault, saying it involved at least 805 drones plus 13 Iskander-K cruise and Iskander-M ballistic missiles. Kyiv said air defences and interceptors shot down or forced to miss some 751 attacking drones and missiles, but that nine missiles and 56 strike drones struck 37 locations. Debris from downed targets fell in at least eight places, officials said.
The head of Ukraine's government, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, said the attack had caused damage to the roof and upper floors of the Cabinet building and praised rescue workers for extinguishing fires and searching for victims. "We will restore the buildings. But lost lives cannot be returned," she said, calling for increased sanctions on Russian oil and gas and for more weapons to help Ukraine defend against further attacks.
NATO allies responded to the barrage by scrambling allied fighters over Poland near the Ukrainian border, and placing ground-based air-defence and radar reconnaissance systems on a state of "maximum readiness," the Warsaw operational commander said. The commander described the measures as preventive steps to secure airspace and protect citizens in areas adjacent to the threatened zone.
Kyiv's armed forces reported that Ukraine struck back with operations targeting Russian energy facilities. Ukrainian officials said strikes hit the Druzhba pipeline in Russia's Bryansk region, a key supply route for oil to some European states, and that drones and explosive strikes set fire to the Ilsky oil refinery in Krasnodar region. Fires were also reported at the Kavkaz port on the Kerch Strait opposite Russian-occupied Crimea.
Independent verification of the exact number of attacking drones, missiles and the full extent of damage was not immediately available. Russian state-aligned outlets and pro-war channels described the operation as one of the largest carried out by Russian forces and claimed higher totals of attacking drones.
Ukrainian emergency services and local officials continued search-and-rescue operations across affected cities as firefighters battled multiple blazes. In Kyiv, a firefighting helicopter assisted crews attempting to douse fires after the night of strikes, and residents were seen wrapped in blankets on streets near damaged buildings.
The strikes mark one of the largest concentrated missile and drone operations since the onset of the full-scale war in 2022 and came amid continuing international calls for support to Ukraine. Ukrainian leaders urged partners to step up weapons deliveries and tighten sanctions aimed at limiting revenues to Russia's war effort.
On the diplomatic front, NATO's rapid response to deploy aircraft over allied territory underscored the alliance's concern about spillover effects from the strikes. Warsaw's operational commander said allied movements were defensive and intended to protect civilians in countries adjacent to Ukraine.
Authorities in the hardest-hit cities began damage assessments and emergency repairs to restore electricity and communications that were disrupted in several areas. Transportation links, including key roads and rail connections in Poltava and surrounding regions, were closed temporarily after strikes and inspections.
Casualty figures and damage assessments remained fluid as daylight inspections continued. Ukrainian officials said they would continue to document the strikes and press for further international action to curb attacks against civilian infrastructure and to provide military assistance.
The sustained exchange of strikes on critical infrastructure on both sides underlined the conflict's escalation in targeting energy and transport nodes, and added urgency to international diplomatic and military discussions about support for Ukraine and measures to prevent the conflict from widening further.