Russia carried out one of its largest attacks on Kyiv since the war began overnight, firing approximately 600 drones and 90 missiles — including 36 ballistic missiles — at the Ukrainian capital and surrounding region. At least four people were killed and around 100 injured across the country, with Kyiv bearing the brunt of the assault. Two people died in the capital itself and 56 were wounded, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, while two further deaths were reported in the wider Kyiv region.

The most significant development was Russia's use of the Oreshnik hypersonic ballistic missile — a medium-range weapon capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads — for the third time in the conflict. The missile struck Bila Tserkva, a city southwest of Kyiv, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russia first deployed the Oreshnik against the southeastern city of Dnipro in November 2024 and used it again in western Ukraine in January 2026. Putin has claimed the weapon, which travels at up to 12,000 kilometres per hour and has a range of up to 5,000 kilometres, is impossible to intercept; Ukraine has no air defence system capable of doing so, though some Western analysts have questioned the more extreme claims about its capabilities. Russia's defence ministry confirmed its use, describing the broader assault as retaliation for what it called Ukrainian strikes on civilian facilities in Russian-controlled territory — specifically, a purported Ukrainian drone strike on a vocational school in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region that Moscow says killed 21 people. Ukraine denied responsibility for that strike, saying it had targeted an elite drone command unit in the area.

The scale of destruction across Kyiv was severe and wide-ranging. Damage was recorded in every district of the capital. A market was burned to the ground, dozens of residential buildings were hit, schools caught fire, and people were trapped in a shelter near a stricken business centre. Ukraine's National Art Museum — one of the country's most important cultural institutions — suffered structural damage including shattered windows and collapsed ceilings, though its collection was reported to be intact. The Ukrainian foreign ministry building was damaged for the first time since the Second World War, and government headquarters had its windows blown out. The Kyiv bureau of German public broadcaster ARD was also heavily damaged by a pressure wave, though no staff were present at the time. A water supply facility was also struck.

Zelenskyy, who visited damaged sites in person and spoke to media there, called the attack a "heavy" and deliberately civilian-targeted assault. "They are genuinely deranged," he wrote on Telegram, adding: "It is important that this does not pass without consequences for Russia." Ukraine's foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, called for an emergency UN Security Council session and an OSCE meeting, and demanded a "strong response" from the international community. At a Security Council session convened by Russia, Ukraine's ambassador rejected Moscow's framing, calling it a "pure propaganda show."

European leaders were swift to condemn the strikes. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz both described Russia's use of the Oreshnik as a "reckless escalation," with Macron saying it signalled "the dead end of Russia's war of aggression." EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called the strikes "abhorrent acts of terror meant to kill as many civilians as possible" and said the use of the hypersonic missile was "political scare tactics and reckless nuclear brinkmanship," adding that EU foreign ministers would discuss increasing international pressure on Russia the following week. The attack came just two weeks after what had previously been described as the largest single Russian aerial assault since the war began, in which Moscow deployed more than 1,400 drones.