Russia carried out one of the largest ballistic missile assaults on Kyiv since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022, unleashing a five-hour bombardment in the early hours of Sunday that killed at least one person in the capital and injured dozens more. Ukrainian officials reported approximately 40 to 41 Iskander-M and hypersonic Zircon missiles, along with 125 drones, were fired at Kyiv and other cities. Air raid sirens first sounded at 1:30am, followed within minutes by a rapid succession of explosions. Ukrainian air defences shot down 18 of the missiles and 108 of the drones, a better interception rate than in some recent attacks — a result observers attributed in part to new Western commitments on Patriot interceptor supplies.

The damage across the capital was extensive. A three-storey building caught fire in the central Shevchenkivskyi district, where rescuers pulled trapped residents from the rubble and recovered one body. Three missiles struck the entrance area of Lukianivska metro station within 30 seconds, collapsing the ground-floor vestibule ceiling — footage showed a dust-covered ruin with a hole leading underground. Fires broke out at residential buildings, offices, a supermarket, a dormitory, and a logistics hub in Bucha district on the city's outskirts. The EU ambassador to Kyiv, Kateryna Maternova, described the experience on social media: