Russia launched one of the largest aerial offensives of the war across Ukraine overnight, deploying 407 drones and 45 missiles in a sweeping strike that killed at least three people and wounded dozens more, Ukrainian authorities said Friday. The bombardment came just days after a Ukrainian operation damaged a third of Russia's strategic bomber fleet.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow's assault struck "almost all" of Ukraine, with confirmed hits from Lviv in the west to Sumy in the northeast. "Now is the moment when America, Europe and everyone in the world together can stop this war by putting pressure on Russia," Zelensky posted on Telegram. "If someone does not put pressure and allows the war more time to take lives, this is complicity and responsibility."
Ukraine's air force said it downed 406 of the 452 aerial threats, including 32 cruise missiles and four ballistic missiles. It reported that two ballistic missiles failed to reach their targets. Explosions and drone activity rocked the capital, Kyiv, where fires engulfed residential buildings and streets were littered with shattered glass and concrete debris.
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, reported four fatalities in the capital alone, exceeding the nationwide figure initially released by Zelensky. Authorities are still reconciling the discrepancy.
The Ukrainian military said its own forces struck back overnight, targeting two Russian airfields believed to house aircraft that escaped damage from Kyiv's "Spiderweb" operation last weekend. That earlier raid, using drones, reportedly disabled 34% of Russia's nuclear-capable bombers.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed the overnight strikes were retaliation for Kyiv's "terrorist acts." It also reported destroying 174 Ukrainian drones and three Neptune-MD guided missiles over the Black Sea.
Local officials in Chernihiv said 14 explosions shook the northern city, while five people were injured in Lutsk, near the Polish border, where cruise and Iskander-M ballistic missiles caused significant damage. Geolocated footage showed multiple fiery explosions.
The assault follows a conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this week. Trump said Putin told him Moscow would retaliate for the Ukrainian strike on its strategic aircraft. Trump offered no indication that he urged restraint.
"When Putin mentioned he is going to avenge or deliver a new strike against Ukraine, we know what it means. It's about civilians," Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko told CNN. "And President Trump didn't say, 'Vladimir, stop.'"
Despite promoting peace talks in Istanbul, Trump appeared to shift his tone Thursday, likening the war to a playground fight. "Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy," Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. "Sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart."
Ukraine's recent military operations also included a strike on the Kerch Bridge-the only land link between mainland Russia and Crimea-using over a ton of underwater explosives, further escalating tensions ahead of Friday's retaliation.
