At least 18 people were killed and around 90 others injured in a large-scale Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said on Friday. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko described the overnight assault as the largest attack on the capital since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, adding that an ambulance station was among the sites hit. He declared Friday a day of mourning in the city. Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched nearly 500 drones and 74 missiles during the overnight strikes. While previous attacks have involved higher casualty figures or larger numbers of weapons, officials said the latest assault targeted a wider area of Kyiv than earlier attacks. The strikes came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia was preparing a new wave of attacks. Several neighbourhoods across Kyiv were evacuated after missiles and drones struck residential buildings and other locations throughout the city. Russia said the overnight strikes targeted what it described as Ukrainian military-industrial facilities in retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Moscow would continue increasing pressure on Kyiv until it achieves its stated military objectives. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of deliberately targeting civilian areas, rejecting Moscow’s justification and saying it is wrong to equate the actions of “the aggressor with a country defending itself.”
