Russia launched one of its most intense airstrikes on Kyiv since the start of the war in 2022, causing at least three deaths. The attack was part of a series of bombings that Moscow described as retaliation for recent Ukrainian offensives on Russian territory.
During the night from Monday to Tuesday, explosions shook the Ukrainian capital. Local authorities reported that seven of Kyiv's ten districts were hit, which forced the deployment of helicopters to extinguish fires caused by missile and Shahed-type drone attacks. Three people died and at least four were injured in the capital.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, denounced the aggression and lamented that these attacks overshadowed international efforts, especially those of the United States under President Trump, to pressure Russia to negotiate peace.
In the president's words, "today was one of the largest attacks on Kyiv." The monumental complex of Saint Sophia Cathedral was also damaged, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, according to Ukrainian Minister of Culture Mykola Tochytskyi, who described it as "the soul of all Ukraine."
In the south, the port city of Odesa was the target of another nighttime drone attack that struck an emergency medical building and residential homes. Two men died, but patients and medical staff managed to be evacuated in time.
The United States condemned the attacks and called for their immediate cessation. A State Department spokesperson expressed concern and offered condolences to the victims. Both sides of the conflict deny deliberately targeting civilians, although thousands have already died in what is the worst conflict in Europe since World War II.
