Russia fires 21 missiles at Kyiv after Witkoff visit; Ukraine sends 630 drones at Moscow
Zelenskyy said at least two people were killed and 34 injured in and around Kyiv. Zelenskyy called the attack "demonstrative" and urged more pressure on Moscow.
Photo: Main Directorate of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
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Hours after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russia launched a massive attack on Kyiv overnight into Thursday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia fired 21 ballistic missiles at the capital in three waves. He said at least two people were killed and 34 injured in Kyiv and the surrounding area. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said metro infrastructure at the Pivdennyi Bridge over the Dnipro River was damaged.
Other parts of the country were also hit: an attack on a market in Lozova in the Kharkiv region killed at least two people and injured 17, local officials said. Ukraine's air force counted 210 Russian drones, saying 181 were shot down or suppressed. Zelenskyy called the attack "demonstrative" and wrote: "When Russian ballistic missiles are the response to negotiations, real pressure must be applied to Russia."
Ukraine struck back with drones. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 630 drones targeted the Moscow region, 163 of them headed for the capital, and that most were intercepted. Russia's Defense Ministry said it downed 808 drones over 17 regions, Crimea and the Black Sea. Temporary flight restrictions were imposed at all four of Moscow's international airports.