In the early hours of October 25, 2025, Ukraine was once again thrust into turmoil as Russian missile and drone attacks struck multiple regions, leaving at least four people dead and twenty others wounded. As Kyiv’s skyline filled with smoke and the sound of explosions echoed through the city, Ukrainians pressed on with daily life, even as their president intensified pleas for Western air defense support.
According to the Associated Press, the capital city Kyiv bore the brunt of a ballistic missile attack that killed two people and injured at least thirteen more. The city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, took to social media to warn residents, posting, “Explosions in the capital. The city is under ballistic attack.” The attack sparked a fire in a non-residential building, while debris from intercepted missiles damaged windows in nearby structures, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported. Despite the chaos, local markets opened as usual. Halyna Stetsiura, a fruit and vegetable vendor, told AP, “We didn’t know the attack was right here, but even when we figured it out we still came. Despite the Russians’ strike, there are still a lot of people here who need to eat. I knew that people would come to shop.”
The violence was not confined to Kyiv. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, acting governor Vladyslav Haivanenko confirmed that two people were killed and seven wounded in a separate wave of strikes. The attacks damaged apartment buildings, private homes, an outbuilding, a shop, and even a vehicle, as reported by Al Jazeera. One victim was an emergency worker, killed during a repeated missile strike on the Petropavlivska community, with another rescuer wounded in the same incident, according to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Ukraine’s air force revealed the scale of the assault: Russia launched nine missiles and sixty-two drones overnight, of which four missiles and fifty drones were successfully intercepted. The Ukrainian military specified that the missiles included Iskander-M ballistic types, notorious for their precision and destructive power. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses had shot down 121 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory during the same period, as reported by Reuters and the BBC. These tit-for-tat aerial attacks underscore the relentless nature of the conflict as it nears its fourth year.
As plumes of smoke rose over Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded with a renewed call for international support, focusing on the urgent need for advanced air defense systems. “It is precisely because of such attacks that we pay special attention to Patriot systems — to be able to protect our cities from this horror. It is critical that partners who possess relevant capability implement what we have discussed in recent days,” Zelenskyy wrote in English on social media. He added, “America, Europe and the G7 countries can help ensure that such attacks no longer threaten lives.”
Zelenskyy’s plea for Patriots and other advanced systems comes at a crucial moment. The president was in London on October 24 and 25, meeting with European leaders to secure further military aid and to urge expanded sanctions against Russia. According to the Associated Press, these talks addressed not only immediate air defense needs but also longer-term strategies to protect Ukraine’s power grid and provide Kyiv with longer-range missiles capable of striking deep inside Russian territory. Zelenskyy specifically called on the United States to provide Tomahawk missiles, a request that reportedly remains under consideration by U.S. officials.
The international response has been swift but complicated. The United States and the European Union announced new sanctions this week targeting Russia’s vital oil and gas sectors. President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on top Russian oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in an effort to pressure Moscow toward a ceasefire, while the EU moved to ban liquefied natural gas imports from Russia. At a joint press conference in London, Zelenskyy welcomed these measures but insisted they must go further, calling for sanctions on all Russian oil companies and additional military aid for Ukraine’s long-range missile capabilities, as reported by Al Jazeera.
Despite mounting pressure, Russian President Vladimir Putin has remained defiant. “No self-respecting country and no self-respecting people ever decides anything under pressure,” Putin declared, labeling the U.S. sanctions an “unfriendly act.” He reiterated Russia’s demands for the complete disarmament of Ukraine and for Russia to retain any territory it has seized, positions that remain wholly unacceptable to Kyiv.
The diplomatic landscape remains fraught with uncertainty. Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s envoy for investment and economic cooperation, told CNN that Russia, the U.S., and Ukraine were “quite close to a diplomatic solution” to end the war. A summit between Putin and Trump had been tentatively planned for Budapest, but U.S. President Trump said he would only reschedule the meeting if he was “certain of progress.” Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump commented, “I’m going to have to know that we’re going to make a deal. I’m not going to be wasting my time. I’ve always had a great relationship with Vladimir Putin but this has been very disappointing.”
Meanwhile, ordinary Ukrainians have shown remarkable resilience. Beekeeper Serhi Lihus recounted to AP how he heard explosions while driving to the market at dawn but still showed up to sell his honey. Customer Svitlana Shyshlovska summed up the prevailing attitude: “You still need to buy food to have something to eat and such markets are not an everyday occasion.” Life, in all its ordinariness and courage, presses on even as the specter of war looms overhead.
As the conflict grinds toward another winter, the stakes are mounting. Ukraine’s urgent need for air defense, the West’s escalating sanctions, and the ever-present possibility of diplomatic breakthroughs—or breakdowns—mean that every day brings new risks and new hopes. For now, the people of Ukraine continue to endure, adapting to violence that has become a grim part of daily life.
