Russia launched one of its largest ballistic missile attacks of the war on Kyiv early Sunday morning. The raid began around 1:30 a.m. local time and continued for five hours, involving approximately 40 Iskander-M and hypersonic Zircon missiles. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the strike as one of the largest ballistic missile attacks carried out by Russian forces on the capital.
Local authorities report that at least one person was killed and between seven and nine others were injured, including two people in the surrounding Kyiv region. The strikes sparked fires across five districts of the city, damaging residential buildings, a dormitory, a supermarket, office buildings, and industrial sites. Rescue workers responded to blazes in the Sviatoshynskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, Solomyanskyi, Desnianskyi, and Dnipro districts, where they pulled residents from burning homes and non-residential buildings. Additionally, warehouses in both the city and the surrounding region were damaged.
Ukraine is currently facing a shortage of Patriot air defense missiles, which are the most effective means of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles. In response to this vulnerability, U.S. President Donald Trump has stated he is prepared to grant Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot interceptor missiles to bolster Kyiv's defenses, though the timeline and details for this implementation remain unclear.