Massive Russian attack kills 22 people across Ukraine, officials say, as Moscow escalates fighting

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles against Kyiv and different Ukrainian cities overnight, sidesplitting astatine slightest 22 civilians and wounding 138 others, authorities said Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has escalated Moscow’s aerial run successful caller weeks successful an evident bid to instrumentality vantage of Ukraine’s shortage of U.S.-made aerial defence systems and transportation an progressively pessimistic assemblage astatine location that Moscow is prevailing successful the 4-year-old war.

Emergency rescue crews digging done the wreckage of flat buildings pulled retired the bodies of a 3-year-old kid arsenic good arsenic those of a pistillate and her 8-year-old lad successful the cardinal Ukrainian metropolis of Dnipro, officials said.

The onslaught stretched past dawn, with explosions reverberating crossed cities. Officials said 16 radical were killed successful Dnipro and six successful Kyiv.

Residents of the superior person been connected borderline for days aft Russia warned past week that a monolithic aerial onslaught was coming and told overseas diplomats to leave. None appeared to heed the telephone and nary embassies instantly reported harm Tuesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for much U.S. and European support, describing the monolithic overnight onslaught arsenic “an explicit connection by Russia: If Ukraine is not protected from ballistic missiles and different rocket strikes, those strikes volition continue.”

Putin has stepped up his aerial run against Ukraine, with Russian forces precocious launching different of their almighty hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missiles. Ukraine's shortage of aerial defence systems, successful portion due to the fact that of depleted U.S. stocks from the Iran war, has near civilians particularly susceptible to ballistic missiles, adjacent arsenic Kyiv's defenses halt astir of Moscow's drones.

A parent and girl structure successful a bathtub

At slightest 81 radical were wounded successful the capital, said Tymur Tkachenko, caput of the Kyiv City Military Administration. Iryna Salikova, 37, spent the nighttime lying successful a bathtub for extortion with her 3-year-old daughter, arsenic blasts reverberated crossed the city.

“Our model was broken. A cobblestone flew into the children’s room,” Salikova said, though they weren't hurt. “Thank God we’re alive. Today we’re alive, contiguous we’re lucky.”

Russia unleashed 73 missiles and 656 drones crossed Ukraine, according to the country’s aerial force, with the main targets including Kyiv, Dnipro and the eastbound cities of Poltava, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian aerial defenses destroyed oregon suppressed 40 missiles and 602 drones.

Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov proclaimed Wednesday would beryllium a time of mourning for the dormant successful his city. That announcement came 20 minutes earlier Filatov said different drone had struck a residential gathering determination astir 2:40 p.m.

Putin seeks to alteration the communicative of the war

Putin is keen to make immoderate affirmative quality from the struggle that began with Russia’s February 2022 penetration of its neighbour and hasn’t gone according to plan.

Western officials and analysts accidental Ukrainian drones are pinning down Russian troops connected the beforehand line, choking Russian proviso lines successful occupied regions of Ukraine and disrupting lipid facilities heavy wrong Russia that supply captious gross for Moscow. That has made the war, which Moscow refers to arsenic a “special subject operation,” much disposable to Russians and accrued unit connected Putin.

U.S.-led bid efforts person fizzled retired arsenic the sides made nary advancement connected cardinal differences and aft the warfare successful Iran grabbed Washington’s attention. Zelenskyy accepted an unconditional ceasefire demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump but Putin refused.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said successful a connection that Tuesday's bombardment struck military-industrial facilities successful the Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi and Sumy regions.

Ukraine said residential, vigor and civilian infrastructure was deed but did not corroborate oregon remark connected harm to immoderate military-related sites.

Putin signaled that Russia won’t fto up its attacks. He said Tuesday that Ukraine’s May 22 drone onslaught connected a assemblage dormitory successful Starobilsk successful the Russia-controlled Luhansk portion of Ukraine that killed 21 had fixed the warfare “a full caller dimension.”

Ukraine said the onslaught successful Starobilsk deed a Russian drone aviator grooming center.

Man hurled from Kyiv flat by blast

Hits of 30 ballistic missiles, 3 cruise missiles and 33 drones were recorded successful astatine slightest 38 locations crossed Ukraine, according to determination authorities. Debris from destroyed drones fell connected 15 locations, the aerial unit said.

Damage was recorded to residential buildings and different civilian infrastructure successful 8 districts of Kyiv.

Olena Dniprovska, 65, and her hubby Yevhen, 64, were wounded successful their flat successful Kyiv’s Podilskyi district.

“I went retired into the corridor with the phone, and earlier I understood what happened, everything fell connected my head, the glass, and the doorway blew off,” said Dniprovska, dried humor streaked crossed her look and a bandage connected her chin. “I ran retired into the beforehand doorway and started calling my hubby from the room, but helium was besides blown retired by the blast wave.”

“Now I person obscurity to live, the flat is wholly destroyed, nary doors, nary windows, nary balcony. You tin measurement consecutive from the country retired onto the street,” she said.

In Kharkiv, astatine slightest 19 radical were wounded successful residential areas successful the past 2 days — including 11 connected Tuesday.

___

Illia Novikov successful Kyiv, Katie Marie Davies successful Manchester, England, and Barry Hatton successful Lisbon, Portugal, contributed.

___

Follow the AP’s sum of the warfare successful Ukraine astatine https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.