Russia unleashes deadly drone, missile attack on Ukraine as Iran war drains air defenses

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.

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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.

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.

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.