Russia Hits Kyiv with Largest Drone Attack

Russia pounded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and missiles on Friday in the largest aerial attack of the three-year war — just hours after President Trump admitted he was “disappointed” with his call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A total of 539 drones and 11 missiles were fired at Kyiv over a seven-hour onslaught — injuring at least 23 people and damaging scores of buildings across the capital, Ukraine’s air force said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is due to speak to Trump later Friday about the war, slammed the attack as “deliberately massive and cynical.”

“Notably, the first air raid alerts in our cities and regions yesterday began to blare almost simultaneously with media reports discussing a phone call between President Trump and Putin,” Zelensky said on X.

“Yet again, Russia is showing it has no intention of ending the war and terror,” he added as he called for increased pressure on Russia to change its “dumb, destructive behavior.”

During the onslaught, blasts lit up the sky and echoed across the city as air raid sirens wailed.

Footage on social media also showed people running for shelter, including in underground metro stations, as the detonations rang out.

Russian missile attack on Kyiv, Ukraine killed one person, injured seven, and caused fires and damage to buildings.

The rush-hour strike involved eight missiles, including hypersonic Kinzhal and Iskander/KN-23 ballistic missiles. pic.twitter.com/HysHN5PekK

— Clash Report (@clashreport) December 20, 2024

The attack damaged roughly 40 apartment blocks, passenger railway infrastructure, five schools and kindergartens, cafes and cars in six of Kyiv’s 10 districts, officials said.

“What Kyiv endured last night, cannot be called anything but a deliberate act of terror,” Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko wrote on X.

“Absolutely horrible and sleepless night in Kyiv,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha added. “One of the worst so far.”

Russian airstrikes on Kyiv have only intensified in recent weeks and included some of the deadliest assaults of the war.

The attack came soon after Trump said his call with Putin on Thursday resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war.

“I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don’t think he’s there,” he told reporters. “I’m just saying I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.”

“I didn’t make any progress with him at all,” he added.