‘Most massive strike’: Russia unleashes largest air onslaught on Ukraine killing at least 12

Representative image (Picture credit: AP)

Russia unleashed its largest aerial attack since the war began, striking more than 30 cities and villages across Ukraine overnight into Sunday. At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured as 367 missiles and drones rained down in a second straight night of intense bombardment, reported the news agency AP.Ukraine’s Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat confirmed that Russia deployed 69 missiles and 298 drones, including Iranian-made Shahed UAVs. “It was the most massive strike in terms of the number of air attack weapons on the territory of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022,” he was quoted as saying by AP.The airstrikes coincided with Kyiv Day, a national holiday, turning what is usually a celebratory occasion into one of mourning. Four people died and 16 were injured in Kyiv alone, with residential buildings and a dormitory damaged by drone debris. “A difficult Sunday morning in Ukraine after a sleepless night,” said Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on X.In the Zhytomyr region, three children aged 8, 12, and 17 were among the dead, while four people were killed in Khmelnytskyi and one in Mykolaiv, emergency officials said. Fires broke out in multiple districts, and in the village of Markhalivka, several homes were levelled. “The street looks like Bakhmut, like Mariupol,” said 76-year-old resident Liubov Fedorenko to AP.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of “deliberate strikes on ordinary cities” and called for tougher sanctions. “Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped,” he wrote on X.The strikes came just hours before Russia and Ukraine conducted a third major prisoner exchange, one of the few signs of cooperation in otherwise stalled efforts to reach a ceasefire.According to Russia’s defence ministry, each side brought home 303 more soldiers on Sunday. That followed the release of 307 soldiers and civilians on Saturday, and 390 on Friday—making it the largest such swap in more than three years of war. “This is the best day,” said Olena, who was reunited with her husband Yuriy after six months of Russian captivity, in a video shared by Ukraine’s defence ministry.Despite these swaps, fighting has not eased. Battles continue across the 1,000-km front line. Ukraine said it intercepted 266 drones and 45 missiles, but at least 22 locations were still hit, reported the BBC.Meanwhile, Russia claimed it had intercepted over 100 Ukrainian drones overnight, including several near Moscow. Drone debris damaged buildings in Russia’s Tula region, though no casualties were reported, according to Reuters.Diplomatic hopes remain faint. While the Istanbul meeting led to the prisoner exchange, Russia has not accepted ceasefire proposals. Zelenskyy warned, “Russia is dragging out this war… The world may go on for a weekend, but the war continues.”