Russia launches 'massive' strikes days after Ukrainian drone attack

Russia launched large-scale drone and missile strikes on Ukraine's capital and other parts of the country early on Friday, officials have said.

At least three people were killed and 49 injured in the strikes, according to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The aerial raids targeted the capital, Kyiv, as well as the city of Lutsk and the Ternopil region in the north-west of the country.

Russia's defence ministry said the strikes were in response to "terrorist acts by the Kyiv regime", adding that it had targeted military sites.

It said its armed forces "overnight launched a massive strike with high-precision long-range air, sea and ground-based weapons, as well as attack drones".

The attack came after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned US President Donald Trump he would respond to Ukraine's recent strikes on Russian airbases.

Russia's latest attack on Ukraine comes days after Kyiv launched its largest long-range drone strike on at least 40 Russian warplanes at four military bases.

Zelensky said 117 drones were used in the so-called Spider's Web operation by the SBU security service, striking "34% of [Russia's] strategic cruise missile carriers".

Authorities say Friday's attacks included 38 cruise missiles, which is the kind Ukraine targeted in Sunday's operation.

Zelensky said that three deaths had been confirmed in the strikes - all employees of Ukraine's state emergency services.

He said the attack used more than 400 drones and more than 40 missiles, and the number of people injured "may increase" in a post on X.

The Ukrainian leader added that "now is exactly the moment when America, Europe, and everyone around the world can stop this war together by pressuring Russia"

He also made a thinly veiled reference to Trump's apparent unwillingness to put pressure on Russia.

"If someone is not applying pressure and is giving the war more time to take lives – that is complicity and accountability," Zelensky wrote. "We must act decisively."

In an earlier statement, Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said four people had been killed in the country's capital.

Air raid alerts were in place in Kyiv, where a residential building was hit, and the city's train system was disrupted after shelling damaged metro tracks.

Tens of thousands of civilians in the capital spent a restless few hours in underground shelters.

From the centre of the city, prolonged bursts of machine gun fire could be heard as air defences on the outskirts attempted to bring down scores of drones aimed at the capital.

From time to time, the distinctive buzz of drones overhead could also be heard.

Bright flashes of light, sometimes reflected on nearby buildings, would be followed, five or 10 seconds later, by thunderous explosions.

The cities of Kharkiv and Sumy were also under air raid alerts.

Elsewhere, Ternopil's military chief Vyacheslav Negoda said Friday's strike was the "most massive air attack on our region to date".

The Mayor of Ternopil, Igor Polishchuk, said five people were wounded in the attack while homes, schools and a government facility had been damaged.

In Lutsk, five people were injured in an attack using 15 drones and six missiles, according to Mayor Ihor Polishchuk.

Meanwhile, the Russian defence ministry said its air defences shot down 174 Ukrainian drones overnight in parts of Russia and occupied Crimea.

The ministry said Neptune anti-ship cruise missiles were also intercepted over the Black Sea.

Earlier this month, direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine took place in Istanbul, but ended without a major breakthrough.

Ukrainian negotiators said Russia rejected an "unconditional ceasefire" - a key demand of Kyiv and its Western allies, including the US.

The Russian team said they had proposed a two- or three-day truce "in certain areas" of the vast front line, but gave no further details.

Trump said Putin vowed to "very strongly" respond to Ukraine's recent attack on Russian airbases, during a phone call that lasted more than an hour on Wednesday.

Moscow had previously said that military options were "on the table" for its response to Ukraine's attack.

Last week, Trump appeared to set a two-week deadline for Putin, threatening to change how the US is responding to Russia if he believed Putin was still "tapping" him along on peace efforts in Ukraine.