Russia kills 18 in massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine

Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities overnight, killing at least 18 civilians and wounding more than 100 others, authorities said Tuesday. The attack, which stretched from night into day, trapped some people under the rubble of apartment buildings.

In the central city of Dnipro, emergency crews pulled out the body of a 3-year-old child and the bodies of a mother and her 8-year-old son. Officials reported 12 deaths in Dnipro and six in Kyiv.

Kyiv residents had been on edge for days after Russia warned of a massive aerial attack and urged foreign diplomats to leave the capital, though none heeded the call. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for more U.S.

and European support, describing the attack as "an explicit statement by Russia: If Ukraine is not protected from ballistic missiles and other missile strikes, those strikes will continue." Russian President Vladimir Putin has intensified Moscow's aerial campaign, recently launching a hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile for only the third time in the four-year war. The strategy exploits Ukraine's shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles, with international stocks depleted by the Iran war, leaving civilians vulnerable to ballistic missile barrages even as air defenses stop most drones.

At least 64 people were wounded in Kyiv, emergency services said. Kyiv resident Iryna Salikova, 37, spent the night in a bathtub with her 3-year-old daughter for protection.

"Our window was broken. A cobblestone flew into the children's room," she said, though they were unhurt.

"Thank God we're alive. Today we're alive, today we're lucky." Ukraine's air force reported that Russia unleashed 73 missiles and 656 drones across the country, targeting Kyiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia.

Ukrainian air defense destroyed or suppressed 40 missiles and 602 drones. Putin seeks to change the war narrative, as Western officials say Ukrainian drones are pinning down Russian troops and disrupting supply lines and oil facilities inside Russia.

U.S.-led peace efforts have stalled after Zelenskyy accepted an unconditional ceasefire demanded by President Donald Trump, but Putin refused. Russia's Defense Ministry said it launched a "massive" strike on military-industrial facilities in multiple regions.

Putin signaled no let-up, citing a May 22 Ukrainian drone attack on a college dormitory in Starobilsk that killed 21. Ukraine said it hit a Russian drone pilot training center there.

In Kyiv, at least four people were killed and 63 injured, including three children. Residential buildings and civilian infrastructure were damaged in eight districts.

Olena Dniprovska, 65, and her husband Yevhen, 64, were wounded in their apartment in the Podilskyi district. "I went out into the corridor with the phone, and before I understood what happened, everything fell on my head, the glass, and the door blew off," said Dniprovska, with dried blood on her face and a bandage on her chin.

"Now I have nowhere to live, the apartment is completely destroyed." In Kharkiv, at least 14 people were wounded, and residential homes, garages, and cars were damaged, with people trapped under rubble.