Overnight Russian barrage kills nine in Kyiv, as air defense struggle with U.S. continues : NPR

KYIV, Ukraine — Before dawn on Saturday, Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian capital, resulting in the deaths of nine people and injuring over 30, as part of Russia’s continued air assault.

“This was a horrific night for Kyiv,” stated the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, in a social media update.

The attack, as reported by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, involved 35 missiles and 185 drones. Zelenskyy noted that only one of the 27 ballistic missiles was intercepted due to a shortage of Patriot air defense missiles, the primary defense against such attacks.

The missiles hit five areas within Kyiv, causing fires that kept rescue teams busy throughout the night rescuing people from damaged and burning apartment buildings.

Firefighters worked tirelessly to extinguish the flames, using hoses to douse gutted buildings. Streets and apartment courtyards were littered with charred vehicles. Images from the Associated Press depicted a body covered near burned-out cars, and blood was seen pooling across a crosswalk amid broken glass and debris.

Casualties in multiple Kyiv neighborhoods

Residents were jolted awake at around 1:30 a.m. by explosions that blew doors off their hinges, shattered windows, and collapsed roofs.

The Darnytskyi district bore the brunt of the attack, with seven fatalities and 14 injuries reported by Ukraine’s state emergency service. In the Solomianskyi district, debris and fire damaged a five-story apartment building, leading to the evacuation of 35 residents from upper floors. Tragically, two lives were lost, and children were among the injured. Firefighters also managed to control a fire in a non-residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district, with additional damage reported in two other districts.

Lithuania’s foreign minister reported that their embassy in Kyiv was damaged by nearby missile strikes.

Russia’s Defense Ministry described the operation as a large-scale attack targeting military-industrial and logistics facilities in Kyiv, as reported by Russian media.

A stalled push for more interceptors

Two days prior to this attack, a separate Russian strike claimed at least 10 lives elsewhere in Ukraine, which Ukrainian officials have labeled as an expanded effort by Moscow to exploit Kyiv’s interceptor shortage.

This shortage has been central to Zelenskyy’s recent discussions with President Trump.

In a social media post following the recent strikes, Zelenskyy emphasized that “every package of ballistic missile interceptors saves the lives of our people,” warning that each night without them results in more casualties. In another post, Zelenskyy mentioned a conversation with Vice President JD Vance, reiterating some points from his meeting with Trump at the White House.

Zelenskyy highlighted his expectation to advance a plan for Ukraine to obtain a license to manufacture its own Patriot air defense missiles, following discussions with Lockheed Martin executives.

During a NATO summit in Ankara, Trump signaled potential U.S. support for Ukraine to produce its own Patriot systems. However, at a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, he stated that “we have not agreed to that,” noting the complexity of sharing such technology.

Strikes beyond the capital

The Russian offensive also reached beyond Kyiv.

An airstrike in Kherson, a southern city, resulted in one death and 19 injuries, as shared by Ukraine’s emergency services on social media. Meanwhile, Ukraine continued its long-range assaults on Russian energy infrastructure.

On Saturday, Zelenskyy reported Ukrainian drones targeted three oil refineries in Russia’s Bashkortostan region, approximately 1,000 miles from the front lines, intensifying a drone campaign that has stressed Russian fuel supplies.

Additionally, a sanctioned Russian container ship was sunk in the Black Sea by a Ukrainian drone strike, according to Zelenskyy. Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear entity, stated the ship was carrying frozen food and construction materials.