Russia launched more than 600 drones and dozens of missiles at Ukraine on Saturday night and Sunday morning, one of the largest aerial attacks of the war, while the United Nations General Assembly remains in session.
At least four people have been killed and 40 others injured, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“This vile attack came virtually at the close of the U.N. General Assembly week,” Zelensky wrote Sunday morning on social media. “Moscow wants to keep fighting and killing, and it deserves the toughest pressure from the world.”
The overnight bombardment targeted cities across Ukraine. In response, Poland closed the airspace over several cities near the Ukrainian border, according to Flightradar24, which tracks air traffic.
Much of the damage on Sunday morning was concentrated in Kyiv, where four people were killed, according to Zelensky. Local officials said at least 10 others were injured.
The southern city of Zaporizhzhia was also hit hard, with 27 people wounded, including three children, according to the regional governor.
“The enemy’s tactics do not change…hitting people who are sleeping peacefully in their homes,” Regina Kharchenko, acting head of the Zaporizhzhia City Council, wrote on social media. “Insidious tactics, an inhuman thirst for human pain.”
The attack comes at the end of a tense month, during which 19 Russian drones crossed into Poland and a Russian jet entered Estonian airspace. Military analysts said the incursion was part of a Russian effort to test the defenses of North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. Meanwhile, President Trump’s efforts to broker a cease-fire appear to have stalled, with no tangible progress since he met, separately, with the leaders of Ukraine and Russia in August.
On Saturday, Zelensky warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin could attack another European country.
“Putin won’t wait until the end of the war in Ukraine. He will open another direction,” Zelensky said. “He is testing Europe. He has checked that Europe doesn’t have the capacity to protect itself from Russian drones.”
Several drones which posed a direct threat were shot down during the incursion, according to Polish officials. Dutch F-35 and Polish F-16 jet fighters were involved in the operation to down the drones.
Also on Saturday, Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, insisted that his country had no plans to attack NATO or European Union countries.
“Russia has never had and does not have such intentions,” Lavrov said at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where the war in Ukraine has been one of the main topics of debate. “But any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response.”
