Russia has launched another massive air attack on Ukraine early Saturday, with at least three people killed and 21 injured overnight, including two children, during a powerful drone attack on Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city.
Authorities in Kharkiv say there is “a lot of damage” after Russia launched 48 drones, as well as two missiles and four gliding bombs, adding that three high-rise residential buildings were hit. Aerial glide bombs have become part of the Russian onslaught.
Six people were killed and 80 injured the previous night, when Russia attacked Ukraine with more than 400 drones and nearly 40 missiles -one of the war’s largest air attacks.
Strikes targeted Kiyv, Ukraine’s capital and the northern city of Chernihiv, as well as Lutsk and Ternopil in the north-west.
Russia’s air attacks come just days after Ukraine’s brazen drone strikes deep inside Russia, targeting Russian strategic warplanes at four air bases during Operation Spider’s Web last Sunday. Russia said that its latest air attack was “in response to terrorist attacks by the Kiyv regime,” claiming that military sites were targeted.
Speaking aboard Air Force One on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters “Ukraine gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night.”
After the recent strikes, Kiyv residents told CNN they supported Ukraine’s strikes against the aircraft Russia has used to bomb their country for over three years.
“It didn’t break us at all. The morale is as high as it was,” said Olha, a 39-year-old Kiyv resident. “Maybe (this was the retaliation), but maybe the retaliation is yet to come. Either way, it doesn’t change our attitude towards the enemy or towards our country.”
Though Ukrainians celebrated last weekend’s successful strikes on Russian bombers, many had braced for a forceful response, raising questions over whether Friday’s attacks mark the extent of its retaliation—or the start of something broader.
Adding to the tension, Russian President Vladimir Putin told U.S. President Donald Trump during a Wednesday phone call that Moscow would respond. Trump’s comments offered no sign he had urged restraint, drawing criticism from Ukrainian officials.
Lawmaker Oleksandr Merezhko told CNN, “When Putin mentioned he is going to avenge or deliver a new strike against Ukraine, we know what it means. It’s about civilians.”
While Trump previously supported peace talks in Istanbul, his remarks on Thursday struck a different tone. Speaking from the Oval Office, he likened the war to a playground fight, saying, “Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy.”
