Russian missiles and attack drones struck the Cabinet of Ministers building in Kyiv on Sunday, Ukrainian officials said, marking the first time the central offices of Ukraine’s government were hit in the full-scale war and coming amid what Kyiv described as a record overnight barrage of weapons.
Ukrainian authorities said more than 800 drones and missiles were launched in the strikes that hit more than 20 cities across the country, causing civilian deaths and widespread damage to energy and transport infrastructure. Ukrainian officials described the scale of the assault as an "escalation of terror."
Police in Kyiv confirmed at least two civilians were killed in the capital, including a 32-year-old woman and her two-month-old son in the Sviatoshynskyi district; the child's father was pulled wounded from rubble. Ukrainian officials also reported at least one woman killed and seven wounded in the Sumy region. Dozens of people were reported injured in other strikes.
Ukrainian authorities and state media said the attacks included a mix of strike drones and ballistic and cruise missiles, including Iskander variants. Kyiv initially reported 805 drones and a further 13 Iskander-K cruise and Iskander-M ballistic missiles were employed. Ukrainian air defences downed or said targets missed 751 of the incoming weapons, while Kyiv acknowledged successful hits by nine missiles and 56 strike drones at 37 locations. Debris from downed targets caused damage in at least eight places, officials said.
The strikes hit the Kyiv region and a string of cities that Ukrainian officials listed as Odesa, Kryvyi Rih, Kremenchuk, Khmelnytskyi, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia. Damage included a high-rise residential building, a nursery school, energy infrastructure, an airfield in the Khmelnytskyi region and repeated strikes on a key road and rail link that crosses the Dnipro River. Authorities said the Kryukovskiy bridge in Kremenchuk and a dam area near Svitlovodsk were also struck. Early on Monday, power and internet outages were reported in some affected areas.
Moscow's defence ministry said its forces had "struck sites of Ukraine's military-industrial complex and transport infrastructure," naming the operation as part of a push to strengthen its offensive. Pro-Kremlin outlets claimed the attack involved up to 1,000 drones, a figure that could not be independently verified.
Ukraine's presidential office said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed a blaze had broken out in the government building as a result of the strikes and called the attack a "deliberate crime" and a "prolongation of the war." On social media, Andrii Sybiha, described by Ukrainian officials as a senior foreign policy adviser, wrote that the attack "needs to get a strong response from our allies" and urged international action to cut revenues that fuel what he called the "Russian war machine." He also criticized the timing of the attacks in relation to diplomatic efforts being discussed internationally.
NATO partners and neighbouring states responded to the scale of the strikes with heightened military posture. Allied fighters were scrambled over Poland near the Ukrainian border and ground-based air-defence and radar systems were placed on maximum readiness in areas close to the threatened zone, Polish military officials said. The Warsaw operational commander described those measures as preventive and aimed at securing airspace and protecting citizens.
Kyiv said the assault represented the boldest single-day escalation since the February 2022 invasion. Officials warned that the scale and targets of the strikes would increase pressure on Ukraine's emergency and repair services and hamper critical civilian infrastructure ahead of the winter season.
Ukrainian emergency services and local authorities continued search and rescue operations at damaged sites on Monday, while investigators began documenting damage and collecting evidence of civilian harm. International leaders and Western capitals have not yet released coordinated responses beyond expressions of condemnation and offers of assistance; Ukrainian officials repeatedly urged stronger measures to reduce Moscow's access to revenues that fund military operations.
The situation remained fluid. Ukrainian defence and emergency services said they were continuing to respond to multiple incidents across the country as recovery and air-defence efforts continued. International monitoring organizations and aid agencies said they were assessing the humanitarian impact of the strikes and preparing to support affected communities.