In the early hours of September 28, 2025, Ukraine was rocked by what officials and witnesses described as one of the most ferocious aerial assaults since the start of the full-scale war. The relentless barrage, which stretched for over 12 hours, left at least four people dead—including a 12-year-old girl—and more than 70 injured across Kyiv, its surrounding region, and the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. The Ukrainian government and international observers alike have called the attack a chilling escalation, with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles raining down on civilian neighborhoods, hospitals, and critical infrastructure.
According to Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, the overnight onslaught saw Russia unleash almost 500 drones and more than 40 missiles, a figure echoed by President Volodymyr Zelensky. Some reports, including those from BBC, indicated the total number of drones launched may have reached nearly 600, with the attack spanning at least seven regions, including Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, and Odesa.
The capital, Kyiv, bore the heaviest brunt. Nearly 20 locations across six different districts suffered damage, with a five-story residential building partially destroyed. Mayor Vitali Klitschko described the city as being under “massive” assault, urging residents to take shelter as air raid sirens wailed for hours. At least four people were confirmed dead in Kyiv, among them a 12-year-old girl, and 13 others were wounded. In a particularly tragic incident, a nurse and a patient lost their lives at the city’s Institute of Cardiology when a missile struck the facility. “The consequences of the attack are already known in the Darnytskyi, Sviatoshynskyi, Solomianskyi, Holosiivskyi, and Dniprovskyi districts. Some locations include car fires in courtyards,” Klitschko reported on Telegram.
As the night dragged on, many Kyiv residents sought refuge deep underground in metro stations, clutching their children and essentials. “Just a short while ago, we found a school teacher walking along this path, trying to find out if it was her student who was killed. There’ll be an empty desk in a classroom this morning,” Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb reported from the scene, capturing the heartbreak and uncertainty gripping the city.
In the surrounding Kyiv Oblast, the regional military administration recorded 28 wounded, including three children. Four of the victims, among them a child, were hospitalized in what officials called “moderately severe” condition. Fires erupted in several homes and buildings outside the capital as a result of the strikes, further complicating rescue efforts.
The southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia was also targeted in the attack, with at least 31 people injured, including three children. According to regional Governor Ivan Fedorov, two of the children—a boy caught in an explosion and another suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning—were in serious condition. The strikes damaged nine houses, 14 high-rise buildings, a school, and production facilities. Regina Kharchenko, acting head of the Zaporizhzhia City Council, described the aftermath with raw emotion: “Yesterday’s life still smolders in the windows—someone’s photographs, children’s toys, books. People have suffered, and the city is counting its wounds again.”
Other regions were not spared. Explosions and air raid alerts were reported in Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, and beyond. In Sumy, a 59-year-old man died during the strikes, according to local officials. The attacks also damaged non-residential buildings and parked cars, further underscoring the indiscriminate nature of the bombardment.
Throughout the night, the Ukrainian Air Force tracked the movements of Russian bombers. Five Tu-95 bombers took off from Olenya airfield in Murmansk Oblast at approximately 1:45 a.m. local time. Around 2:25 a.m., MiG-31K bombers were launched, prompting a nationwide aerial alert. At 3:52 a.m., the Air Force warned that Tu-95s had likely launched from the Engels air base. The coordinated timing of these launches contributed to the overwhelming intensity and duration of the attack.
Poland, Ukraine’s NATO neighbor to the west, responded swiftly. Its air force scrambled fighter jets and, as a precaution, closed airspace over the southeastern cities of Lublin and Rzeszow. According to flight monitors and statements from Polish officials, this was a direct response to “unplanned military activity related to ensuring state security.” Such measures have become increasingly common; earlier in September, Poland shot down multiple Russian drones that breached its airspace, marking the first time a NATO member had destroyed Russian drones during the conflict.
Ukrainian leaders did not mince words in their condemnation. President Zelensky called the strikes “brutal” and “vile,” emphasizing the deliberate targeting of civilians and critical infrastructure. “Nearly 500 strike drones and more than 40 missiles, including ‘Kinzhal’. In the morning, Russian-Iranian ‘Shaheds’ were again in our sky,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “Moscow wants to continue fighting and killing and deserves only the harshest pressure from the world … We will continue to strike back to deprive Russia of these opportunities to earn and force it to diplomacy … The time for decisive action has long come, and we count on a strong reaction from the US, Europe, the G7, and the G20.” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha echoed these sentiments, insisting, “We must maximise the cost of further escalation for Russia.”
Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential office, framed the attacks as a “war against civilians,” demanding a stronger economic response from the West. “There will be a response to these actions. But the West’s economic blows against Russia must also be stronger,” he said.
Internationally, the attack reverberated through diplomatic circles. The strikes came just as world leaders gathered in New York for the high-level U.N. General Assembly. President Zelensky met with U.S. President Donald Trump, who, in a marked shift, declared Ukraine “is in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back in its original form”—contingent on European support. Trump did not hold back in criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin for the ongoing violence: “I’m very dissatisfied with what Russia is doing and what President Putin is doing. I haven’t liked it at all. He’s killing people for no reason whatsoever.” However, despite his harsh words, Trump has yet to impose new U.S. sanctions against Russia, a point that has drawn scrutiny from Ukrainian officials and international observers alike.
Russia, for its part, claimed it was targeting military facilities and industrial enterprises supporting Ukraine’s armed forces. Yet the overwhelming evidence of civilian casualties and destruction has fueled calls for greater international intervention and support for Ukraine’s defense.
As Ukraine braces for colder months—historically a period of intensified Russian strikes on energy infrastructure—officials warn that the country must prepare for more nights like this one. The memory of September 28, 2025, will linger: a night when hundreds of drones and missiles turned homes, hospitals, and schools into ruins, and when the world was reminded, yet again, of the war’s relentless toll on ordinary lives.