At least four people have been killed in Russian missile and drone attacks in Ukraine, local officials said, as powerful explosions reverberated across the country.
The attacks overnight into Friday followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin, conveyed via United States President Donald Trump, that the Kremlin would hit back after Ukrainian drones destroyed several strategic bomber aircraft in attacks deep inside Russia.
Among the dead were three emergency first responders in the capital, Kyiv, and someone who was pulled from the rubble of an apartment building in a northwestern city, officials said, adding that dozens were also injured.
Multiple explosions were heard in Kyiv, where falling debris sparked fires across several districts as air defence systems attempted to intercept incoming targets, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Administration.
“Our air defence crews are doing everything possible. But we must protect one another – stay safe,” Tkachenko wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine’s human rights chief, Dmytro Lubinets, called for a strong international response to the overnight attack, saying the assault violated basic human rights.
“Russia is acting like a terrorist, systematically targeting civilian infrastructure,” Lubinets wrote on Telegram. “The world must respond clearly and take concrete steps, including condemning the aggressor’s actions.”
Moscow denies targeting civilians since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Friday that its forces had carried out a huge strike on military and military-related targets in Ukraine overnight, in response to what it called Ukrainian “terrorist acts” against Russia.
Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford said it was a “very frightening night”.
“We heard some of the drones go over this area in central Kyiv, giant explosions ringing out across the city, some so loud that they were shaking the glass here of our hotel. We’ve seen pictures of people who took shelter in the metro stations underground and underground car parks,” he said.
Authorities reported damage in several districts, and rescue workers were responding at multiple locations. They urged residents to seek shelter.
Widescale assault
The Russian attack hit at least six regions across Ukraine, leaving a trail of civilian injuries, damaged infrastructure and disrupted utilities.
Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces launched 407 drones and 44 missiles, including cruise and ballistic missiles. Ukraine said it succeeded in destroying about 200 drones and 30 missiles.
The number of people injured in a Russian attack on the western city of Ternopil early on Friday rose to 10, including five emergency workers, regional governor Viacheslav Nehoda said. The strike damaged industrial and infrastructure facilities, left parts of the city without electricity, and disrupted water supplies.
Three people were injured in Ukraine’s central Poltava region following a Russian attack that damaged administrative buildings, warehouses and a cafe, regional head Volodymyr Kohut said. Fires caused by the strike have been extinguished, and debris fell on a private home.
Russian forces also struck the Khmelnytskyi region overnight, damaging a private residential building, outbuildings, a fence, and several vehicles, regional governor Serhii Tiuryn said.
Meanwhile, air defence forces shot down three Russian missiles over the western Lviv region overnight, the regional head Maksym Kozytskyi said.
In the northern Chernihiv region, a Shahed drone exploded near an apartment building, shattering windows and doors, according to regional military administration chief Dmytro Bryzhynskyi. He said explosions from ballistic missiles were also recorded on the outskirts of the city.
“Overnight, Russia ‘responded’ to its destroyed aircraft… by attacking civilians in Ukraine…. Multistorey buildings hit. Energy infrastructure damaged,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.
The assault comes as hopes for a truce between Russia and Ukraine seemed to be faltering, despite two rounds of direct talks in Istanbul.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said it may be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while” rather than pursue peace immediately – a remarkable shift from Trump’s previous appeals for a quick end to the war.
Earlier this week, Putin told Trump in a telephone conversation that Moscow would have to respond to the earlier huge Ukrainian drone attacks deep inside Russia against Russian military warplanes.
