Russia launched a massive aerial assault on Ukraine overnight into Tuesday, deploying 315 drones across the country in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described as “one of the largest” attacks on the capital, Kyiv.
Seven districts of Kyiv were damaged by the strikes, which ignited fires in residential buildings, cars, and warehouses. “It was a tough night for all of us,” said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv city military administration. Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko confirmed that at least four people were wounded in the drone strikes.
“Today was one of the largest attacks on Kyiv,” Zelensky wrote on X. “Russian missile and Shahed strikes drown out the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace.”
Residents of Kyiv reported hearing explosions throughout the night, with air defense systems engaged in continuous operations to intercept the incoming drones, according to a CNN producer on the ground.
In the southern port city of Odesa, a separate Russian attack struck a maternity ward, according to Andriy Yermak, Chief of Presidential Staff. At least two men were killed and nine others were wounded, the regional Prosecutor’s Office said on Telegram.
Footage from Reuters showed shattered glass and debris inside the hospital, with a woman in scrubs sweeping the damaged maternity ward.
Violetta, a 78-year-old Odesa resident who spoke to CNN using only her first name for security reasons, described the terror she experienced. “My garage with my car is destroyed… We’ve had a terrible time. Thank God I’m not hurt. I heard the siren in time and ran into the hallway to hide. It was just in time, because the roof of my apartment collapsed,” she said, standing beside her crushed vehicle.
“I heard other explosions in Odesa, but nothing compares to this, it’s so close,” she added. “My neighbor, a boy, was wounded, his shoulder was cut by glass, and last night they took him to get stitches.”
Another resident, Lyudmila, 60, shared a similar account. “It’s very scary because it’s close by. Drones were flying around all the time, banging and banging. It was very scary, but in four years this is the first time we’ve been hit. It’s very hard mentally,” she said.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia also launched two KN-23 ballistic missiles and five Iskander-K cruise missiles during the overnight assault.
Tuesday’s barrage followed what had already been Russia’s largest drone strike on Ukraine the previous night, when 479 UAVs were fired in a single coordinated offensive—marking the second consecutive weekend that Moscow has broken its own record for drone deployments.
