Russia launched a record 539 drones, along with 11 cruise and ballistic missiles, against Ukraine overnight into Friday, striking multiple buildings and residential areas, according to the country’s air force. The attack came just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had made “no progress” toward a ceasefire deal during a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. At least 23 people were wounded in the assault, which lasted 13 hours, according to Kyiv city and military authorities. Ukraine reported that it intercepted 476 out of the 539 drones. In addition to the dro

Russia launched a record 539 drones, along with 11 cruise and ballistic missiles, against Ukraine overnight into Friday, striking multiple buildings and residential areas, according to the country’s air force. The attack came just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had made “no progress” toward a ceasefire deal during a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. At least 23 people were wounded in the assault, which lasted 13 hours, according to Kyiv city and military authorities. Ukraine reported that it intercepted 476 out of the 539 drones. In addition to the drones, Russia also launched 11 cruise and ballistic missiles. Thousands of residents spent the night in shelters, including subway stations and underground parking lots, as explosions and the buzzing of drones echoed across the city in the early hours of Friday morning. “An absolutely horrible and sleepless night in Kyiv. One of the worst so far,” said Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrii Sybiha. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described it as “one of the most large-scale air attacks” the country had experienced. “Notably, the first air raid alerts in our cities and regions yesterday began to blare almost simultaneously with media reports discussing a phone call between President Trump and Putin,” Zelensky said. “Yet again, Russia is showing it has no intention of ending the war and terror.” The strikes ignited fires in buildings across several city districts and partially destroyed multi-story residential complexes, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. They also damaged part of Kyiv’s railway infrastructure and destroyed five ambulances that were responding to emergency calls. On Thursday, Trump held a nearly hour-long call with Putin and afterward voiced frustration about the stalled ceasefire negotiations. “We had a call. It was a pretty long call. We talked about a lot of things, including Iran, and we also talked about, as you know, the war with Ukraine,” Trump said. “I’m not happy about that.” Asked whether he felt he had made any progress with Putin on a deal over Ukraine, Trump responded firmly: “No.” He added, “I didn’t make any progress with him today at all.” Both Russia and Ukraine have increasingly shifted the war to the skies, relying heavily on drone warfare. In recent weeks, Russia has carried out near-nightly air attacks involving hundreds of drones and missiles. Earlier this week, Ukraine’s foreign minister said that in June alone, Russia had launched over 330 missiles including nearly 80 ballistic missiles 5,000 combat drones, and 5,000 glide bombs against Ukraine. Since February 2022, Russia and Ukraine have been at war following Russia’s invasion, which the Kremlin claimed was intended to prevent Ukraine and its NATO allies from threatening Russian interests.

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