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Russia launched its largest aerial assault on Ukraine early Sunday, resulting in four fatalities and igniting the Ukrainian government’s headquarters in Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelensky warned this escalation could extend the war further. The strike marked the first time Ukraine’s cabinet building was directly targeted, with a witness observing flames and smoke billowing over Kyiv. Emergency responders also reported damage to several high-rise structures across the city from drone attacks. Despite international pressure and ongoing peace initiatives, Russia shows no sign of stopping its three-and-a-half-year invasion, pressing for demands that threaten to prolong the conflict.
Residents in Kyiv expressed frustration, with Olga, a 30-year-old resident of a damaged building, remarking that such attacks have become routine. “This is unfortunately just our new normal,” she said, explaining that Russia often begins with Iranian-designed drones before launching rockets. Emergency crews were seen dousing the roofs of affected buildings with water as they responded to the chaos.
Russia claims it targeted a plant and a logistics center in Kyiv, denying responsibility for the attack on the government complex. The country’s defense ministry assured that no other Kyiv targets were hit, explicitly denying involvement in the strike on the government building. Authorities cordoned off the damaged area, including the building’s roof and upper floors, and Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko vowed to rebuild what was lost but emphasized that they cannot restore lives lost in the attacks. She shared a video showing destroyed offices and scorched walls from inside the damaged building.
Between Saturday night and Sunday morning, Ukraine’s air force reports that Russia deployed at least 810 drones and 13 missiles—a new high. Zelensky condemned these acts as deliberate crimes designed to extend the war. He also discussed the attack with French President Emmanuel Macron, who condemned the strikes and reaffirmed France’s support for Ukraine’s defense. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and EU President Ursula von der Leyen also condemned Russia’s actions, describing them as cowardly and dismissing diplomacy as a mockery.
The strike on Kyiv’s residential areas resulted in at least two deaths, including a mother and her two-month-old infant, and wounded over twenty others. Authorities reported that a 24-year-old pregnant woman went into preterm labor during the attack, with her condition critical. Across Ukraine, two more lives were lost and dozens wounded from overnight attacks in the east and southeast. The foreign ministry reported that seven horses at a Kyiv suburb’s equestrian club also perished, condemning the apparent brutality of daily attacks.
This barrage followed commitments from over twenty European nations to patrol Ukraine and perhaps deploy troops to enforce peace, though Kyiv insists on Western-backed security guarantees to prevent future aggression. Meanwhile, Moscow maintains territorial gains, capturing another village in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, continuing a costly and brutal battle that has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and displaced millions in Ukraine’s eastern and southern regions. The conflict remains Europe’s bloodiest since World War II.
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