Kyiv hit by deadly overnight barrage as Russia fires 25 ballistic missiles
Ukrainian officials said one person was killed and 16 were hurt as fires broke out across five districts of the capital.
By Frankie Delgado · News Reporter
3 min read
Russia fired 25 ballistic missiles during a broad overnight assault that battered Kyiv for hours, killing one person and injuring 16 others, local authorities said.
The attack started at about 1:30 a.m. local time, according to officials, with blasts heard across the Ukrainian capital as residents took cover through the night.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 41 missiles and 125 attack drones across the country in the attack. Ukrainian forces intercepted or suppressed 108 drones and 18 missiles, the air force said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said most of the missiles were aimed at Kyiv.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said the strikes caused fires in five districts of the city and damaged homes, office and industrial buildings, a dormitory and vehicles.
In the Sviatoshynskyi district, rescue crews pulled four people from a burning private home, the emergency service said. In Shevchenkivskyi, responders rescued residents from a burning three-story building and brought a fire in a nonresidential building under control. One person was later found dead, officials said.
Firefighters were also sent to blazes in the Solomyanskyi, Desnianskyi and Dnipro districts, according to the emergency service.
Viktoria Shejko, 32, told CBS News she sheltered in the corridor of her apartment building with her husband and seven children after the air alarm began.
“When the alarm started, we checked that there were ballistics, then went into the corridor. Then it started exploding one missile after another,” Shejko said.
She said the pace of ballistic missile attacks had taken a mental toll on families in the city.
“It's very difficult psychologically, because lately they've been firing ballistic missiles at us very often. It used to be once a week or even more rarely, but now if not every day, then every other day,” she said.
Russia’s defense ministry claimed the Kyiv attack was aimed at Ukrainian military-linked sites. It said the targets included factories producing Flamingo drones and parts for Neptune guided missiles, along with a postal terminal it described as being used to store dual-use goods and assemble drones, robotic systems and electronic warfare equipment.
CBS News reported that Russia has carried out several large-scale strikes on Kyiv in recent weeks while Ukraine has faced a shortage of Patriot air defense missiles, which are considered its most effective weapons for intercepting Russian ballistic missiles.
Ukraine said it shot down at least 17 ballistic missiles in Sunday’s assault. CBS News reported that the figure suggests Ukraine may have replenished part of its supply of Patriot interceptor missiles after an earlier major Russian attack this month in which Ukraine did not intercept any ballistic missiles.
U.S. President Donald Trump said at a NATO conference earlier this month that he was prepared to allow Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot interceptor missiles, CBS News reported. The details and timing of that plan remain unclear.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.