Russia launched one of its largest drone and missile attacks on Kyiv since the start of the war, injuring 15 people and damaging buildings across the Ukrainian capital in a strike that came only hours after a prisoner exchange with Russia began.
The attack unfolded in waves before dawn, with Russian forces firing 14 ballistic missiles and 250 drones, according to the Guardian report. Ukrainian air defenses shot down six missiles and intercepted most of the drones before they reached the city, but debris and unexploded weapons still caused damage in six districts.
Two children were among those injured. In the Obolon district, at least five people were hurt and a residential building was heavily damaged. The air raid alert lasted more than seven hours, sending residents into subway stations for shelter as smoke rose from impacted areas.
The attack was especially striking because it came during a fragile moment in diplomacy. Russia and Ukraine had just begun a prisoner swap agreed in Istanbul, which was described as a first step toward a possible ceasefire. The deal envisages 1,000 prisoners exchanged from each side, and the first phase brought hundreds of Ukrainians home.
But the strike undercut any sense that the battlefield was calming. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a difficult night and urged more sanctions on Russia, arguing that pressure on Moscow remained the only path toward ending the war. Kyiv officials said the barrage showed Russia was still choosing escalation even while talks continued.
Both sides have been talking about the possibility of more negotiations, but progress remains limited. The Kremlin said on Friday that the location of the next round of talks had not yet been chosen, while Moscow said it would provide a draft memorandum setting out its terms only after the prisoner exchange was complete. Ukraine’s foreign minister accused Russia of sending deadly missiles instead of a peace proposal.
The broader war is still far from any settlement. Russian forces have continued to make slow advances in eastern Ukraine, while Kyiv has carried out drone attacks on Russian territory, including Moscow, in an apparent effort to force the Kremlin into more serious negotiations.
The latest barrage also arrived against a background of growing international pressure. Donald Trump has made ending the war a foreign-policy priority, and both sides have nominally agreed to attend renewed talks. Yet each new strike makes the gap between those diplomatic gestures and battlefield reality more obvious.
For Kyiv residents, the immediate effect was physical damage, disrupted sleep and the familiar return to shelter. For negotiators, the message was harder to miss: even after a prisoner swap, the war is still being fought on the ground and in the air.
