At least one person was killed and 13 others injured after Russia launched one of its largest ballistic missile attacks on Ukraine overnight into Sunday, targeting Kyiv and the surrounding region, Ukrainian authorities said.The barrage sparked fires across multiple districts and damaged residential, commercial and industrial buildings.Ukraine’s Air Force issued a ballistic missile alert shortly before a series of powerful explosions echoed across the capital. According to local authorities, the attack began around 1.30 am local time and continued for several hours.“The enemy launched more than 40 missiles of various types – most of them against the capital – and 120 attack drones,” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said.Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the strikes ignited fires at a dormitory, an apartment building and a supermarket.Several non-residential buildings, warehouses, office complexes and parked vehicles were also damaged or set ablaze in different parts of the city, he said in a post on Telegram.Ukraine’s state emergency service said the missile barrage triggered fires in five districts of Kyiv, damaging residential buildings, industrial facilities, office premises, a dormitory and several vehicles.Emergency crews were deployed across three districts as firefighters battled blazes and searched through debris. At one of the affected sites, rescue workers sifted through smouldering rubble while extinguishing fires in bomb-damaged apartments.Beyond the capital, two people were injured in the surrounding Kyiv region, where warehouses were also damaged, according to the regional military administration.The latest barrage comes as Russia intensifies attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities while Ukraine faces a shortage of US-designed Patriot air defence missiles, regarded as its most effective system for intercepting ballistic threats, Reuters reported.US president Donald Trump has said he is prepared to grant Ukraine licences to manufacture Patriot interceptor missiles domestically, a move that could strengthen Kyiv’s air defences. However, Reuters reported that details of the proposal, including its implementation timeline, remain unclear.
