Photo: Valerii Tkachenko, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Russia launched a massive overnight missile and drone assault on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, firing ballistic missiles and about 280 drones in one of the heaviest bombardments of the city in recent weeks, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday. At least one person was killed and 15 others were injured in Kyiv, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service.
Ukraine's Air Force said the attack, which began on the evening of October 26, included Iskander-M and S-400 ballistic missiles launched from Russia's Bryansk region and 280 strike drones of various types, 69 of them jet-powered. Air defenses shot down or suppressed two ballistic missiles and 255 drones, the Air Force said, but hits were recorded at 25 locations and falling debris struck 16 more.
Kyiv's Southern Bridge and university campus hit
Kyiv was the main direction of the strike, the Air Force said. Russian weapons hit the city's Southern Bridge, disrupting metro services, as well as a university campus, an administrative building and medical centers, according to Ukrainian authorities and the Kyiv Independent.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ballistic missiles struck university grounds and surrounding civilian areas, including Kyoto Park, an area near a metro station and residential buildings. "The missiles hit very crowded areas, and there is not a single military facility nearby," Zelenskyy said. He later said 16 ballistic missiles and more than 280 drones were launched overnight, and that the number of people injured in the campus strike had risen to 12, including students and university staff.
Across Ukraine over the past day, Russian attacks killed at least four people and wounded at least 55, Ukrainian authorities said, with strikes also reported in Chernihiv, Donetsk, Kherson and Sumy regions. In Donetsk, three people were killed and 22 injured, regional authorities said.
Moscow claims defense-industry targets
Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces carried out a massive overnight strike with ground-launched precision weapons and drones on Ukrainian defense industry enterprises and transport infrastructure in Kyiv, a logistics center in the Kharkiv region, and vessels used in the interests of Ukrainian forces. It said targets in Kyiv included an industrial enterprise producing and storing long- and medium-range drones, a drone assembly shop, and the Yuzhny road-rail bridge, which it claimed was used for military cargo transit.
Zelenskyy said strikes also hit energy, logistics and urban infrastructure across Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odesa, Chernihiv, Sumy, Donetsk, Kherson and Chernivtsi regions, and he renewed his appeal for faster delivery of air-defense interceptors. Ukraine has been waiting nearly a month for US sign-off on Patriot and NASAMS missiles, a delay Zelenskyy raised again this week, arguing that delays in allied deliveries directly aid Russia's campaign.
Ceasefire in Oleshky, war elsewhere
The Kyiv assault came on the same day a localized ceasefire took effect in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine, allowing a humanitarian operation for residents stranded there. That pause applies only to the Oleshky area, and both sides have confirmed fighting is continuing elsewhere — a contrast Tuesday's strikes made brutally clear.
Sources: Ukrainian Air Force via UNN; Kyiv Independent; Reuters; ANI via The Tribune; Russia's Defense Ministry via ANews.