A 32-year-old woman and her two-month-old son were killed in Kyiv on Sunday as Russia launched what Ukrainian officials described as a record drone and missile barrage that struck more than 20 cities across the country, injuring dozens and damaging government and energy infrastructure.
Ukrainian authorities said the strikes involved at least 805 drones and 13 Iskander-K cruise and Iskander-M ballistic missiles. The attack prompted NATO to scramble allied fighters over Poland and put ground-based air-defence and radar reconnaissance systems on maximum readiness near the alliance's eastern flank.
The dead in Kyiv were found in a nine-storey residential block in the Sviatoshynskyi district, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, adding that rescuers were searching for a third body. The child's father was pulled wounded from the rubble. Authorities reported further civilian casualties elsewhere, including a woman killed in the Sumy region and scores more injured across the country.
Ukrainian forces said they shot down the bulk of the incoming weapons. Kyiv reported that 751 drones and missiles were intercepted or missed their targets, while acknowledging that nine missiles and 56 strike drones struck 37 locations, with debris from downed targets falling in eight places.
The attacks damaged high-rise residential buildings, a nursery school and energy infrastructure, and set fires at transport and industrial sites. Footage and official statements indicated strikes on a key bridge over the Dnipro River and on a dam area near Svitlovodsk, and an airfield in Khmelnytskyi region was hit. The Kryukovskiy bridge in Kremenchuk, in Poltava region, was shown under attack on video, and the city reported at least 40 explosions and multiple fires.
For the first time in the war, Kyiv's Cabinet of Ministers building sustained damage, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said, with the roof and upper floors affected. "Rescuers are extinguishing the fire. I thank them for their work. We will restore the buildings. But lost lives cannot be returned," she said, urging stronger sanctions against Russian oil and gas and renewed weapons deliveries for Ukraine.
Svyrydenko said the strikes hit Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro, Kremenchuk and Odesa among other cities. In Odesa, officials said a sports complex, residential buildings and other infrastructure were struck. In Kyiv, emergency services used a firefighting helicopter to douse flames after a night of widespread explosions.
The barrage also prompted defensive steps by NATO. Warsaw's operational commander said allied fighters were scrambled over Poland in what he described as preventive actions "aimed at securing the airspace and protecting citizens, especially in areas adjacent to the threatened zone." NATO and allied national statements emphasized heightened readiness along eastern alliance borders.
Russian state-linked outlets and pro-war channels celebrated the scale of the operation, with some claiming up to 1,000 drones. Moscow has not provided a detailed official toll. Ukrainian officials said Russian forces launched one of the largest single-day attacks since the full-scale invasion began, and that Kyiv's air-defence forces were under heavy pressure.
Ukraine said it carried out counterstrikes against Russian energy targets in response, striking the Druzhba pipeline in Russia's Bryansk region and hitting facilities in Krasnodar, including the Ilsky oil refinery, where fires were reported and workers were evacuated. Flames were also reported at the Kavkaz port on the Kerch Strait opposite Russian-occupied Crimea.
Ukrainian leaders appealed for more international support. "The enemy terrorises and kills our people across the country every day. The world must respond to these destructions not only with words but with actions," Svyrydenko said, calling for increased sanctions and additional weaponry to help stop attacks on civilians.
Rescue services continued search-and-rescue operations in the hardest-hit areas and emergency teams worked to restore power and communications where networks were damaged. Local authorities closed key road and rail links in some regions while investigators examined the strikes' impact on critical infrastructure.
Independent verification of the full scope of damage and casualties was limited amid continuing hostilities and disrupted communications. International officials and analysts said the scale of the barrage underscored the ongoing intensity of the conflict and the strain it places on Ukraine's air-defence systems and civilian protection efforts.