Russian missiles and drones bombard Ukraine for hours, killing at least 18 people

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia unleashed a barrage of hundreds of drones and missiles against Ukraine overnight, killing at least 18 people in its most intense attack of the year.

The hourslong bombardment follows a short Easter ceasefire,with peace talks to end the war at a standstill as the United States focuses on the Iran war. Kyiv fears that conflict is leaving it short of the air defense munitions it needs to stop Russian missiles, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spending the week touring allies and pleading for help protecting the country's skies.

Black smoke billowed into the night sky of the Ukrainian capital, the morning revealing charred cars and piles of debris scattered next to damaged buildings.

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Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least 4 people were killed in strikes on the capital, including a 12-year-old boy, while 45 other people were hurt. A drone crashed directly into an 18-storey residential building in the west of the capital, Klitschko said, as he also reported rocket debris falling in other districts.

Olena Kapustian, a 41‑year‑old Kyiv resident who survived that drone hit with her son, told Reuters the blast left her shaken. “I fear for our country and for everything we have… I feel so sorry for the children,” she said, speaking outside the damaged building.

Kapustian said the strike was the second time the apartment block had been hit, after a Shahed drone attack a year ago.

A bloody sneaker near after a drone attack on Wednesday in Odesa. Andrew Shugsun / Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Nine people were killed and another 23 injured in the southern Black Sea port city of Odesa, the head of the local military administration Oleh Kiper said. Search and rescue operations were continuing, he added, with residential buildings, port and critical infrastructure facilities suffering significant damage.

Three people were reported dead and another 34 injured by local authorities in the central Dnipropetrovsk region; three people were also reported killed in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

Ukraine’s Air Forces said 44 cruise and ballistic missiles and nearly 660 drones were fired at Ukraine in the last 24 hours. Twelve missiles and 20 drones escaped air defenses, hitting 26 locations inside Ukraine, it said.

“Another night has proven that Russia does not deserve any easing of global policy or lifting of sanctions,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X in the aftermath of the attack.

Most of the ballistic missiles targeted Kyiv, he said, and there were hits and damage to ordinary residential buildings. “There can be no normalization of Russia as it is today,” Zelenskyy added.

The U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran and energy market disruptions caused by Tehran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have seen Washington temporarily lift sanctions on Russian oil.

Moscow also stands to benefit from soaring oil prices, and the diversion of weapons and global attention from its war in Ukraine.

Russia said it had launched a “massive strike” on military targets inside Ukraine in response to what it said were “Ukraine’s terrorist attacks on civilian targets inside Russia.”

Ukraine has been targeting Russia's energy infrastructure to prevent it from fueling its war effort as it aims to maintain pressure on Moscow and its ailing economy.

Russia’s defense ministry said more than 200 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight over six Russian regions and annexed Crimea.

Two people, including a 14-year-old child, were killed in a drone attack on the Russian town of Tuapse, the governor of the southern Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratyev, said. Falling drone debris also damaged several residential buildings in the attack, he said.

Daryna Mayer reported from Kyiv, and Yuliya Talmazan reported from London.