Kyiv, the once capital of Russia and now of NATO-backed Ukraine, is ablaze after a reported overnight missile and drone barrage.

Ukrainian officials claim there were at least 13 massive impacts, with blurred-out footage showing large fires lighting up the skyline.

Ukrainian officials admit that the Russian military launched a retaliatory wave of missile and drone strikes targeting the capital early Friday.

The Russian Ministry of Defense has yet to comment.

The first strikes were reported shortly after midnight, with Mayor Vitaly Klitschko urging residents to seek shelter as the capital’s air defenses engaged incoming targets.

Officials confirmed that by 4am, several mostly non-residential facilities in multiple districts had been hit in successive waves.

There were no immediate reports of fatalities, but Klitschko said at least 14 people were injured after falling debris from intercepted missiles and drones triggered fires in residential areas and private yards.

Images spread like wildfires

Multiple blurred-out videos shared on Ukrainian social media appear to show the aftermath of the strikes, with numerous fires lighting up the skyline of Kyiv. 

Officials confirmed at least 13 impacts in different parts of the capital.

The exact locations and types of facilities hit are difficult to verify, as the Ukrainian authorities heavily censor the flow of information and punish those who share footage of the impacts – unless a civilian facility is affected.

Russia does not target civilians

The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet issued a statement on the incident. Moscow regularly conducts drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure, maintaining that its operations do not target civilians and accusing Kyiv of placing air defense systems in densely populated areas.

The reported strikes came just hours after President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation with his US counterpart, during which Donald Trump reportedly urged Russia to cease hostilities in Ukraine as soon as possible. 

Diplomatic Solutions Sought

Putin reaffirmed Moscow’s openness to a negotiated solution, but reportedly stated that Russia would not back down until the ’well-known root causes’ of the conflict are addressed.

Despite several rounds of direct negotiations in Istanbul in recent months, Kiev has continued long-range attacks on Russian territory, including nightly drone raids.

Russia victims, including one high-profile assassination

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky described the attack as “one of the largest airstrikes” the country has faced, claiming it involved 550 aerial targets of various kinds, including 330 drones. He added that the raid affected Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Sumy, Kharkov, and Chernihiv regions, resulting in 23 people being injured.

Ukrainian media outlets shared footage from Kyiv showing massive blazes, with some districts covered by smoke so thick that residents were forced to wear masks.

Local authorities reported damage to a warehouse, a repair facility, and several other buildings.

On Friday Morning, a woman was killed when a drone crashed into an apartment building in Rostov Region.

On Tuesday, a Ukrainian drone strike caused multiple fatalities and serious injuries at an industrial plant in the city of Izhevsk, around 1,000km (620 miles) east of Moscow.

On Monday, a woman was killed and three others injured in a missile strike on the Donetsk People’s Republic. You can share this story on social media: 

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