Russia carried out its fiercest drone attack on Ukraine

(Patria) - Russia carried out its largest air attack in two days since the start of the war in Ukraine, targeting the capital Kyiv and other cities with hundreds of drones, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday, Reuters reported.

Russia launched 1,567 drones since the beginning of Wednesday, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. At least 27 civilians were killed during those two days, officials said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that the war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and devastated parts of Ukraine over more than four years, is "nearing its end."

But, while Moscow, according to Ukraine, launched more than 670 attack drones and 56 missiles overnight, Zelenskyy did not sound optimistic.

"These are definitely not the actions of those who believe the war is nearing its end," he said. "It is important for partners not to remain silent about this attack. And it is equally important to continue supporting the defense of our skies."

Kyiv was the main target of the night attacks, Zelenskyy said. Ukraine's State Emergency Service said at least 21 people, including three children, were killed in the capital, and Mayor Vitali Klitschko declared Friday a day of mourning.

In a statement issued after midnight, the Emergency Service said rescue operations were continuing non-stop.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on Thursday's attacks.

Reuters footage from Kyiv shows emergency workers carefully moving over rubble and cutting concrete at the site of an attack on a nine-story residential building where an entire section was destroyed.

Speaking in his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said that, according to initial analysis, a recently produced Russian Kh-101 missile hit the building. He called for renewed diplomatic efforts to prevent such technology from falling into Russian hands.

Damage across Ukraine

More than 1,500 rescuers were deployed across Ukraine to deal with the aftermath of the attacks, including nearly 600 in Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said 180 facilities were damaged in Ukraine, including more than fifty residential buildings.

He said a vehicle of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs was targeted by a drone during a humanitarian mission in the southern city of Kherson.

In Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, 28 people were injured, including three children, and civilian infrastructure was also targeted, said regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.

Ukraine's Ministry of Energy said power supply was disrupted in eleven regions. Strikes also targeted port infrastructure in the southern Odesa region and railways, officials said.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the attack, while U.S. President Donald Trump is visiting China, shows that Russia wants to continue fighting despite Washington's peace efforts, and that pressure is needed on Moscow to end the war.

"I am sure that the leaders of the United States and China have enough influence on Moscow to tell Putin to finally end the war," he wrote on social media X.