Russia launched a mass attack on Ukraine with over 400 drones and over 40 missiles on targets in all corners of the country, killing at least six people and wounding scores, a Ukrainian government official informed CNN.
The attack hit almost all regions of Ukraine, with the worst-hit areas being Kyiv, Lviv, and Sumy. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as being one of the most severe since the war started.
More than 400 drones, over 40 missiles were fired by the Russians. 80 individuals were wounded, and some could still be trapped under debris," Zelensky shared on X. He added that Russia had attacked "nearly all" of Ukraine, listing nine impacted regions from Lviv in the west to Sumy in the northeast.
Russia's Ministry of Defence stated these strikes were carried out in retaliation for what it termed Kyiv's "terrorist acts." It is unclear, however, if this barrage represents the entire extent of Russia's threatened retaliation or if more escalation is to come from President Vladimir Putin. Three firefighters died in Kyiv, two civilians were killed in Lutsk, and one person was killed in Chernihiv, CNN said, citing Ukraine's State Emergency Service.
Earlier on Sunday, Russia launched an overnight attack with 472 drones and seven missiles in a comparable massive attack.
Ukraine retaliated with FPV (first-person view) drone strikes against five Russian airbases in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions. Ukraine's Security Service stated that these attacks destroyed or damaged more than 40 Russian aircraft.
After the strikes, President Putin also had a telephonic conversation with US President Joe Biden on Wednesday, cautioning that Moscow would be compelled to react to Kyiv's actions.
People of Kyiv, as interviewed by CNN, voiced full support for Ukraine's retaliatory strikes against Russian military targets that have been bombing the nation for over three years. "It didn't break us at all. The morale is as high as it was. We strongly believe in our armed forces," told CNN Olha, a 39-year-old from the capital city.
She labeled the Russian attack as characteristic of most other nights during the war: "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."
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