KYIV — An Indian citizen was among 12 people killed following a massive overnight Russian aerial bombardment targeting residential neighbourhoods, energy facilities, and logistical infrastructure across Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Tuesday. Expressing condolences to the families of those killed, Zelenskyy stated that dozens of civilians sustained injuries as emergency personnel conducted search and rescue operations across multiple blast sites.
According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian forces deployed a barrage of ballistic missiles and jet-powered attack drones across several administrative regions, including Kyiv, Odesa, Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Sumy, and Dnipro. In Boryspil, a missile strike struck a five-storey apartment building and commercial premises, claiming four lives, injuring 13 residents, and forcing the evacuation of 50 people. In the capital city of Kyiv, a targeted aerial strike on a railway transit depot killed seven individuals.
In the southern port region of Odesa, sustained strikes using guided aerial bombs and drones damaged critical export corridors, severed electricity connections for thousands of households, and deliberately damaged a vital border crossing adjacent to Romania. Zelenskyy reiterated urgent appeals to international partners for expanded air defence and anti-ballistic missile systems, arguing that civilian casualties directly correlate with gaps in defensive interceptor shields. The strikes follow recent diplomatic engagements between the Ukrainian leadership and United States envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner regarding battlefield developments and tentative plans for a high-level presidential visit.