Russia hits Kyiv with massive air attack, biggest of war so far - ABC News
The attack began shortly after Trump spoke with Vladimir Putin by phone.
LONDON -- Russia overnight hit Ukraine with the biggest missile and drone attack of the war, launching a record number of drones at Kyiv.
Hundreds of Russian drones swarmed the capital all night as videos show huge fires and plumes of smoke on the skyline. Residents describe it as one of the most intense nights since the start of the full-scale invasion and people in Kyiv are waking up Friday morning to the city being blanketed by smoke from the fires still burning.
Russia launched over 500 drones, a huge number and the second time in less than a week it has launched the biggest air attack of the war. The attack comes after the Trump administration froze deliveries of critical air defense missiles to Ukraine.
The mayor of Kyiv said that at least 23 people were injured as many people spent the night sheltering in Kyiv’s metro system.
TOPSHOT - Flames and smoke billow from buildings during mass Russian drones and missile strikes on the Ukraine's capital on July 4, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine said Russia had launched 550 drones and missiles at the war-battered country overnight, as the Kremlin steps up aerial attacks and US-led peace talks stall. The Ukrainian air force said Moscow had launched 539 drones and 11 missiles, adding that air defence units had downed 268 drones and two missiles.
Oleksii Filippov/AFP via Getty Images
The aerial assault began shortly after President Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone which, in Ukraine, is being widely taken as a clear message to Ukrainians.
“Notably, the first air raid alerts in our cities and regions yesterday began to blare almost simultaneously with media reports discussing a phone call between President Trump and Putin," Ukrainian President Zelenskyy wrote on Friday morning. "Yet again, Russia is showing it has no intention of ending the war and terror. Only around 9 a.m. today did the air raid alert end in Kyiv. It was a brutal, sleepless night.”
