Putin launches huge attack on Ukraine with high speed missile and 600 drones after threatening revenge
The Kyiv region was pounded with hundreds of drones and missiles overnight and into Sunday in a mass bombardment of Ukraine’s capital and surrounding area.
The fatal attack came after Vladimir Putin vowed to retaliate for the strikes on a student dormitory on Friday.
Russia struck the region with a powerful Oreshnik hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile, which Putin has claimed is immune to any missile defence system.
At least four people have died, and more than 80 have been injured in the attack, which targeted multiple structures, including residential buildings and schools.
Russia launched 600 strike drones and 90 air, sea and ground-launched missiles, with Ukrainian air defences destroying and jamming 549 drones and 55 missiles.
Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, calling the Russian leader “unhinged”.
He wrote on X: “Putin can’t even pronounce the word ‘hurrah’ clearly anymore – slurs and mumbles – yet he is still vanquishing residential buildings with his missiles. Launched three Russian missiles against a water supply facility. Burned down a market. Damaged dozens of residential buildings. Hit several ordinary schools. Launched his “Oreshnik” against Bila Tserkva.
“They really are unhinged. It is important that this does not pass without consequences for Russia.”
The head of Kyiv’s military administration said damage was recorded in 40 locations across several districts of the capital, as fire raged into the morning.
It comes after Putin denounced the drone strike on a college dormitory in Starobilsk, in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, which Moscow says killed 21 people and injured 42.
The Russian leader blamed the strike on Kyiv on Friday and ordered his military to submit its proposals for retaliation.
However, Ukraine has denied targeting the dorm, saying it had struck an elite drone command unit in the area.
At a UN Security Council emergency meeting held at the request of Russia, Ukrainian ambassador Andrii Melnyk rejected his Russian counterpart’s accusations of war crimes, calling them a “pure propaganda show”. He said Friday’s operations “exclusively targeted the Russian war machine.”
Russia’s overnight attack targeted a five-story residential building, which was hit in Kyiv’s Shevchenko district, causing a fire and killing one person.
