Russia hammers Kyiv in largest missile and drone barrage since war in Ukraine began

KYIV Ukraine AP Waves of drone and missile attacks targeted Kyiv overnight into Friday in the largest aerial assault since Russia s invasion of Ukraine began more than three years ago leaders reported amid a renewed Russian push to capture more of its neighbor s land The barrage injured at least people and inflicted severe damage across multiple districts of the capital in a seven-hour onslaught Blasts lit up the night sky and echoed across the city as air raid sirens wailed The blue lights of emergency vehicles reflected off high-rise buildings and debris blocked city streets It was a harsh sleepless night Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported Russia has been stepping up its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities Less than a week ago Russia launched what was then the largest aerial assault of the war That strategy has coincided with a concerted Russian effort to break through parts of the roughly -kilometer -mile front line where Ukrainian troops are under severe pressure Russia launched drones and missiles across Ukraine during the night the country s air force explained The majority were Shahed drones but Russia also launched missiles in the attack Alya Shahlai a -year-old Kyiv wedding photographer announced her home was destroyed in the attack We were all in the basement shelter because it was so loud staying home would have been suicidal she advised The Associated Press We went down minutes before and then there was a loud explosion and the lights went out in the shelter people were panicking Trump not happy with Russia s attacks The attack on Kyiv began the same day a phone call took place between U S President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin Zelenskyy called the timing of the strikes a deliberate signal that Moscow has no intention of ending the war Trump revealed he would call Zelenskyy on Friday U S-led international peace efforts have been fruitless so far Newest direct peace talks have led only to sporadic exchanges of prisoners of war wounded troops and the bodies of fallen soldiers No date has been set for further negotiations Ukrainian executives and the Russian Defense Ministry declared another prisoner swap took place Friday though neither side mentioned how plenty of soldiers were involved Zelenskyy disclosed most of of the Ukrainians had been in Russian captivity since The Ukrainian soldiers were classified as wounded and seriously ill When petitioned if he made any progress during his call with Putin on a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine Trump reported No I didn t make any progress with him in contemporary times at all I m very disappointed with the conversation I had nowadays with President Putin because I don t think he s there I don t think he s looking to stop the fighting and that s too bad Trump explained According to Yuri Ushakov Putin s foreign affairs adviser the Russian leader emphasized that Moscow will seek to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the root causes of the conflict Russia will not back down from these goals Ushakov reported reporters after the call Russia s army crossed the territory line on Feb in an all-out invasion that Putin sought to justify by falsely saying it was needed to protect Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO Zelenskyy has repeatedly called out Russian disinformation efforts Pentagon halts deliveries of air defense missiles The U S has paused specific shipments of military aid to Ukraine including crucial air defense missiles Ukraine s main European backers are considering how they can help pick up the slack Zelenskyy says plans are afoot to build up Ukraine s domestic arms industry but scaling up will take time The Ukrainian response requirements to be speedy as Russia escalates its aerial attacks Russia launched drones at Ukraine in June a new monthly record according to official statistics collated by The Associated Press Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha commented earlier this week that Russia also launched more than missiles including nearly ballistic missiles at Ukrainian towns and cities that month Throughout the night AP journalists in Kyiv heard the constant buzzing of drones overhead and the sound of explosions and intense machine gun fire as Ukrainian forces tried to intercept the aerial assault Absolutely horrible and sleepless night in Kyiv Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on social media platform X One of the worst so far Ukraine s Financial market Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko described families running into metro stations basements underground parking garages mass destruction in the heart of our capital What Kyiv endured last night cannot be called anything but a deliberate act of terror she wrote on X Kyiv was the primary target of the countrywide attack At least people were hospitalized according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko Zelenskyy called the Kyiv attack cynical In Moscow the Defense Ministry claimed its forces targeted factories producing drones and other military equipment in Kyiv Russia strikes Ukrainian regions Ukrainian air defenses shot down targets including two cruise missiles Another targets were lost from radar and presumed jammed Russia successfully hit eight locations with nine missiles and drones Debris from intercepted drones fell across at least sites In addition to the capital the Dnipropetrovsk Sumy Kharkiv Chernihiv and Kyiv regions also sustained damage Zelenskyy noted Crisis services stated damage in at least five of Kyiv s districts