Russia carries out what Ukraine calls “most massive aerial attack” of the war

Kyiv, Ukraine — Russia launched 122 missiles and 36 drones against Ukrainian targets, officials said Friday, killing at least 16 and wounding scores in what an air force official said was the biggest aerial barrage of the 22-month war.

Agence France-Press reports Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said on social media that, “We know about 16 dead. 97 wounded, including at least two children aged six and eight years old,” 

The Ukrainian air force intercepted 87 of the missiles and 27 of the Shahed-type drones overnight, Ukraine’s military chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said.

Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on his official Telegram channel that it was “the most massive aerial attack” since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

According to the Ukrainian air force, the previous biggest assault was in November 2022 when Russia launched 96 missiles against Ukraine. This year, the biggest was 81 missiles on March 9, air force records show.

An unknown number buried under rubble during the roughly 18-hour onslaught, Ukrainian officials said. Among the buildings reported to be damaged across Ukraine were a maternity hospital, apartment blocks and schools.

The health ministry in the city of Dnipro said the maternity hospital was “severely damaged” but the staff and patients managed to shelter in time, AFP reports.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Kremlin’s forces used a wide variety of weapons, including ballistic and cruise missiles.

“Today, Russia used nearly every type of weapon in its arsenal,” Zelenskyy said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said Russia “apparently launched everything they have,” except for submarine-launched Kalibr missiles, in the attack.

The aerial attack that began Thursday and continued through the night hit six cities, including the capital, Kyiv, and other areas from east to west and north to south Ukraine, according to authorities.

Fighting along the front line is largely bogged down by winter weather after Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive failed to make a significant breakthrough along the roughly 620-mile line of contact.

Ukrainian officials have urged the country’s Western allies to provide it with more air defenses to protect it against aerial attacks like Friday’s. Their appeals have come as signs of war fatigue strain efforts to keep support in place.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was among Ukrainian officials calling on Kyiv’s allies to step up their support Friday. “Today, millions of Ukrainians awoke to the loud sound of explosions. I wish those sounds of explosions in Ukraine could be heard all around the world,” Reuters quotes him as saying.