KYIV: Russia carried out its largest aerial attack over a two-day period since the start of its war in Ukraine, pounding the capital Kyiv and other cities with hundreds of drones, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday.

Russia had launched 1,567 drones since the start of Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. At least 15 civilians have been killed over the two days, officials said. He said Moscow had launched more than 670 attack drones and 56 missiles overnight, and air defence units shot down 41 of the missiles and 652 drones, the air force said.

“These are definitely not the actions of those who believe the war is coming to an end,” Zelensky said.

“It’s important that partners do not remain silent about this strike. And it is equally important to continue supporting the protection of our skies.” At least nine people, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed in Kyiv. Six people were killed in a daytime attack focused on western Ukraine on Wednesday, officials said.

Zelensky says 15 civilians killed in 1,567 drone strikes over two days

Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The war, which has killed hundreds of thousands and ravaged swathes of Ukraine, has continued despite a US-backed peace push although Moscow’s battlefield advances have stalled this year.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow on Thursday’s attacks. Kyiv was the main target of the overnight strikes, Zelensky said, adding that there was damage across 20 locations in the city and also in the Kyiv region. About 40 people including two children were wounded, officials said.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced a day of mourning in the capital on Friday.

Dozens of emergency workers were cutting through concrete at the site of a Russian drone strike on a nine-story residential building where an entire section had been destroyed. Zelensky said that nearly 20 people were still missing as rescuers cleared the debris.

“There were people there, children. What happened to them? You have to understand, an entire building collapsed,” Alla Komisarova, 74, a pensioner, said on the site of the strike, holding back tears.

“I heard something flying, it’s flying nearby… And then there was such a terrible sound, and our house, which is opposite (to the one hit) jumped and staggered.”

Damage across the country

More than 1,500 rescue workers have been deployed across Ukraine to deal with the aftermath of the strikes, including nearly 600 in Kyiv. Zelensky said that overall 180 facilities had been damaged in Ukraine, including more than 50 residential buildings.

He said a UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs vehicle had come under fire from drones during a humanitarian mission in the southern city of Kherson.

Twenty-eight people including three children were wounded in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, where civilian infrastructure was targeted, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

Ukraine’s energy ministry said electricity supplies in 11 regions had been disrupted, and the strikes also targeted port infrastructure in the southern Odesa region and railways, officials said.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the attack — while US President Donald Trump is visiting China — showed Russia wanted to continue fighting despite Washington’s peace push, and that pressure was needed on Moscow to end the war.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2026