Smoke fills Kyiv’s Lukianivska metro station after a Russian drone strike during a massive overnight assault, as civilians shelter underground amid intensifying aerial attacks across Ukraine. [Image by Reuters]
Russia launched one of its most intense air assaults in months on Monday, firing hundreds of drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight, killing at least two people and wounding more than a dozen others. In the capital city of Kyiv, the attack struck a metro station where hundreds had sought shelter, stoking fears among civilians of nowhere being safe.
The Air Force of Ukraine reported that the Russian troops launched 426 drones and 24 missiles, and 23 drones struck targets. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the death toll and reported more than 15 wounded nationwide. “Russia’s strikes are always aimed at humanity,” Zelenskyy posted on Telegram, mentioning the firing at a kindergarten, apartments, and shops in Kyiv.
One of the most critical strikes hit Lukianivska metro station, which had been used as an underground shelter for hundreds. Video showed dense smoke billowing onto the platform as frantic passengers, some screaming, huddled in the darkness. Kyiv’s head of military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said the station entrance was badly damaged, and nearby buildings—a kindergarten included—were also hit.
If you go around here it’s hell on earth,” Max, a 32-year-old from Kyiv, said. “Smoke is getting to underground now. Where do we hide anymore?
The overnight shelling also set off fires in at least four districts of the capital. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that emergency services were working at multiple impact points. The city’s air defenses fired intensely during the hours-long assault, which began around 2 a.m. and continued until shortly before dawn.
The western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, distant from the eastern front lines, also suffered a heavy assault in what was referred to by its mayor as the worst such strike since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Explosions were also reported in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-most populous city.
The assault comes just days after President Zelenskyy called for restarting peace talks with Moscow. Ukraine has offered new negotiations next week in Istanbul, building on two previous rounds in May and June that did not produce a ceasefire but resulted in prisoner swaps and agreements to return soldiers’ bodies.
In a Sunday televised address, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Russia had received Ukraine’s latest proposal but expressed little hope. “Reaching an agreement is not simple,” he said. “Our aims must still be fulfilled.”
Among the demands Moscow has listed are further territorial concessions, a constitutional commitment by Ukraine not to join NATO, and official status for the Russian language. President Vladimir Putin has also called for the overthrow of Zelenskyy’s pro-Western government.
Meanwhile, the international community is stepping up efforts to push back against the war. The European Union on Friday approved its 18th package of sanctions on Russia, targeting banks and ramping up oil export restrictions. U.S. President Donald Trump, under growing pressure to fulfill his promise to end the conflict, has imposed a 50-day deadline for Russia to accept a peace deal or face sweeping new sanctions on its trading partners.
As part of a recent U.S.-brokered agreement, Ukraine is to receive additional Patriot missile systems and air defense support from NATO allies. Germany is set to deliver some imminently, and at least seven other countries are contributing.
Zelenskyy, in a weekend address, reiterated his willingness to meet Putin directly and emphasized the need to secure immediate agreements on ceasefire terms, prisoner exchanges, and the return of Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia.
“Only real pressure on Russia can stop this aggression,” Zelenskyy said Monday. “We have done everything in our power. The rest depends on global unity and resolve.”
As the war enters its fourth summer, Ukrainians gear up again for a summer shaped not by peace talks or rebuilding, but by power outages, rubble, and the ominous whine of drones in the night.
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