It was terrifying, scary. We have been sitting here for more than three hours.
Four killed and 56 injured in Kyiv; two additional deaths in surrounding region as Russia deployed hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missiles. Attack follows Putin's retaliation threat over alleged Ukrainian drone strike; Russia claims Oreshnik missiles are impossible to intercept at 10x speed of sound.
- Four killed, 56 injured in Kyiv; two additional deaths in surrounding region
- Over 40 locations damaged across the city
- Attack began just after 1 a.m. Sunday; Oreshnik hypersonic missile deployed
- Thousands sheltered in metro stations overnight
Russia struck Kyiv with a massive wave of missiles and drones on Sunday, killing four people and injuring dozens, with over 40 locations damaged across the city.
The explosions began just after one in the morning. Residents of Kyiv woke to the sound of missiles and drones tearing through the darkness, and by the time the sun rose on Sunday, four people were dead across the capital and its surrounding region, with dozens more wounded and over forty locations across the city reduced to rubble and ash.
Ukraine's air force had warned hours earlier that Russia might deploy the Oreshnik, a hypersonic ballistic missile with a range of several thousand kilometers. The warning came after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had publicly stated on Saturday that intelligence from Ukraine, the United States, and Europe indicated such an attack was imminent. What followed was a massive coordinated strike—missiles and drones in waves—that left the city's skyline choked with black smoke and its streets filled with emergency workers.
In Kyiv proper, two people were killed and 56 injured, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Thirty of the wounded required hospitalization. The attacks damaged offices, shops, warehouses, and even the foyer of a metro station. One five-story residential building lost its entire front facade. Damage was also reported in the historic Independence Square. "It was a terrible night for Kyiv," Klitschko said from the scene, watching as rescuers extinguished fires and cleared debris while medics tended to the injured. In the broader Kyiv region beyond the capital, the regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk reported two additional deaths and nine more wounded.
Thousands of residents had no choice but to seek shelter in the city's metro stations as the attack unfolded. Nataliia Zvarych, 62 years old, rushed to her local station as the first explosions rocked the buildings around her. "It was terrifying, scary," she said. "We have been sitting here for more than three hours now, listening to the explosions up there." For hours, residents huddled underground, listening to the violence above, waiting for silence that would signal it was safe to emerge.
The strike appeared to be retaliation. Putin had ordered his military to prepare options for striking back after what Russia claimed was a Ukrainian drone attack on a student dormitory in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region on Friday. Ukraine's military denied the accusation, saying instead that it had targeted a Russian drone command unit. Regardless of the justification, the response was swift and overwhelming.
The Oreshnik missile itself has become a symbol of Russia's escalating capabilities. Putin has claimed it travels at more than ten times the speed of sound, making it impossible to intercept. Russia has now used it twice against Ukraine. The weapon's range—several thousand kilometers—means it can strike targets across the entire country, and its theoretical capacity to carry a nuclear warhead adds another layer of threat to every attack.
As dawn broke over Kyiv, firefighters worked to extinguish blazes in damaged buildings while rescue teams evacuated the wounded. The acrid smell of smoke hung over parts of the city. Poland, watching the strikes unfold just across its border, activated its military aviation as a precaution, though no violations of Polish airspace were detected. The attack was over, but the pattern it represents—waves of missiles and drones, civilian casualties, infrastructure destruction—suggests this is not an isolated incident but part of an intensifying phase of the war.
Notable Quotes
It was a terrible night for Kyiv. Right now, rescuers are putting out fires and clearing debris.— Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko
It was terrifying, scary. We have been sitting here for more than three hours now, listening to the explosions up there.— Nataliia Zvarych, 62, resident sheltering in metro station
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does the timing of the warning matter here? The air force warned about the Oreshnik hours before it struck.
Because it shows Ukraine was watching, anticipating. But anticipation isn't the same as prevention. They knew it was coming and couldn't stop it. That's the real message—not that they were caught off guard, but that even with warning, the missiles got through.
The Oreshnik keeps appearing in these reports. What makes it different from other missiles Russia has used?
Speed, mostly. Putin says it travels at ten times the speed of sound. That's the claim, anyway. If true, it means air defenses can't react fast enough. It's not just a weapon—it's a statement about capability, about what Ukraine can't defend against.
Four people dead. That's the headline number. But what about the 56 injured in the city alone?
That's the weight that doesn't always make it into the first paragraph. Four dead is the story. But 56 people in hospitals, 30 of them serious enough to need beds—that's the ongoing consequence. That's the city's medical system absorbing shock.
Why did so many people go to the metro stations?
Because when missiles are falling, the metro is the safest place. Underground, thick concrete above you. A woman sat there for three hours listening to explosions. That's what the attack felt like from the inside—not a news event, but hours of waiting in the dark.
The building with the collapsed facade—was that residential?
Yes. Five stories. People lived there. The front just came off. You can see the rooms exposed. That's not abstract damage; that's someone's apartment, their belongings, their life, suddenly open to the street.
Putin said this was retaliation. For what, exactly?
A drone strike on a student dorm in Luhansk. But Ukraine says they hit a command unit instead. The facts are contested. What's not contested is that four people are dead in Kyiv because of what happened in Luhansk.