Russian missile and drone strikes killed at least 14 people and wounded about 40 in Kyiv overnight, Mayor Vitali Klitschko declaring Friday a day of mourning after the assault damaged homes, warehouses, a school and a children's hospital in the Solomianskyi district.
Ukraine's air force said Russia launched dozens of ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles alongside 168 drones, including Kinzhal and Zircon hypersonic weapons and North Korean KN-23 ballistic missiles, with air defences downing 145 drones. President Volodymyr Zelensky linked the deaths to shortages in Patriot interceptors and described the attack as long-prepared. Hits were recorded at 28 locations across Ukraine, and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant lost its last external power line.
The barrage triggered responses across Nato's eastern flank: Poland activated military aviation operations, Romania scrambled Spanish fighter jets after a drone crashed in Tulcea county, and Moldova reported an unauthorised drone breached its airspace. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 250 Ukrainian drones approached the Moscow region, while the Russian defence ministry claimed it struck a drone component factory in Kyiv. North Korea's Kim Yo Jong denied Zelensky's claim of additional troop deployments.