Russian drone and missile barrage on Kyiv kills six and wounds at least 35
2025-11-14 — Russia launched a combined drone and missile assault on Kyiv that killed six people and wounded at least 35, according to Ukrainian officials cited by the Associated Press.
The attack hit early Friday and sent explosions across the capital, with fires breaking out and debris scattering through multiple districts. AP reports that one of the injured was a pregnant woman. Kyiv officials said apartment buildings took direct hits, leaving gaping holes in residential structures and causing widespread damage in at least eight of the city's 10 districts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia used at least 430 drones and 18 missiles in the attack. He described it as a deliberately calculated strike meant to inflict maximum harm on civilians. Ukrainian air defenses, including American-made Patriot systems, shot down 14 missiles, according to Zelenskyy.
The attack was the biggest on Kyiv in almost three weeks, AP reports. It also arrived after a period in which many recent Russian strikes have focused on energy infrastructure ahead of winter. That wider pattern matters because the campaign has been aimed not only at the front line but at the daily functioning of Ukrainian cities.
The reporting from the scene gives a sense of the immediate damage. Residents described hurried escapes in the middle of the night, while rescuers searched damaged apartment blocks. One volunteer rescue dog handler told AP that she survived after realizing her hair had caught fire. Another resident said she got up to go to a shelter but was not fast enough. A third said three people were killed in two apartments near hers, including an elderly woman whose body was recovered after walls collapsed.
The strike also had diplomatic spillover. The Azerbaijan Embassy in Kyiv was damaged by debris from an Iskander missile, prompting Azerbaijan's president to call the damage unacceptable. Top European defense officials meeting in Berlin later vowed to continue support for Ukraine.
Moscow said its overnight strike targeted military-industrial and energy facilities, a claim Ukrainian officials reject given the repeated damage to homes and public buildings. The AP report also notes that Russia said its air defense shot down 216 Ukrainian drones overnight over several regions, while Ukraine said it used domestically produced Neptune missiles against targets in Russia.
Taken together, the attack shows the scale of the aerial war entering another winter. Kyiv is still being hit in waves large enough to overwhelm neighborhoods, stretch emergency response and force civilians back into shelters even far from the front.
