LONDON — Russian drones and missiles again bombarded cities across Ukraine on Saturday night into Sunday morning despite the completion of the largest prisoner exchange of the 3-year-old war.
The Armed Forces Operational Command in Poland — a NATO nation that borders Ukraine to the west — said in a Sunday morning post to X that its fighter jets were scrambled during the Russian attack. “Intensive activity of long-range aviation of the Russian Federation has been observed, associated with strikes carried out on objects located, among others, in the western territory of Ukraine,” the statement said.
Ukraine’s air force said in a post to Telegram that Russia launched a total of 367 “air attack vehicles” — among them nine Iskander ballistic missiles, 56 cruise missiles, four guided air missiles and 298 attack drones — at targets across the country.
The air force said 45 cruise missiles and 266 drones were shot down or otherwise neutralized during the attack.
“Most regions of Ukraine were affected by the enemy attack,” the air force wrote, with strikes reported in 22 locations and downed cruise missiles or strike drones reported in 15 locations.
Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that at least 18 people were killed — among them three children from the same family — and 85 people injured. More than 80 residential buildings were damaged and 27 fires recorded, it added.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media early Sunday, “Today, rescuers have been working in more than 30 Ukrainian cities and villages following Russia’s massive strike.”
“These were deliberate strikes on ordinary cities,” Zelenskyy continued. “Ordinary residential buildings were destroyed and damaged. In Kyiv, dormitories of the university’s history department were hit. There were also strikes on enterprises. Tragically, people were killed, including children.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed the attacks constituted “a massive strike by sea, air, land-based precision weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against enterprises of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex that produce missile weapon components, radio electronics, explosives, rocket fuel and strike drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as radio-technical reconnaissance and satellite communications centers.”
“The targets of the strike have been achieved,” the ministry said in a post to Telegram. “All designated targets have been hit.”
The latest attack marks the fourth consecutive night during which Russia launched more than 100 missiles and drones into Ukraine, per Ukrainian air force figures. Though long-range attacks have occurred almost nightly in recent months, Russia’s recent bombardments have been notable for their scale.
Ukraine is also continuing its own drone strikes into Russia, with the Defense Ministry in Moscow reporting the downing of 110 Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday.
The barrages came despite the beginning of a multi-day prisoner exchange process on Friday. Some 1,000 troops from both sides were expected to be swapped, with the process complete as of Sunday morning, according to Zelenskyy.
The prisoner exchange was the largest since Moscow’s invasion began in February 2022. Russia and Ukraine have swapped prisoners of war throughout the conflict, despite their failure to agree a lasting ceasefire.
U.S.-brokered peace talks since President Donald Trump’s return to office in January have likewise failed to reach an accord, with both Kyiv and Moscow accusing each other of undermining negotiations.
Ukraine is demanding a full 30-day ceasefire, during which time peace talks can take place. Zelenskyy has repeatedly ruled out ceding territory to Moscow in any peace deal.
Trump’s threats of new sanctions on Russia — as yet unrealized despite Ukrainian and European appeals for more American pressure on President Vladimir Putin — do not appear to have pushed the Kremlin away from its maximalist war goals, which essentially equate to Ukrainian capitulation.
Those demands include the annexation of four partially-occupied Ukrainian regions — plus the retention of Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014 — Kyiv’s demilitarization, a permanent block on Ukrainian accession to NATO and the “denazification” of the country — a nebulous demand based on Russia’s false representation of the Ukrainian government as a far-right dictatorship.
Ukrainian leaders have cited Russia’s continued massed strikes as evidence that Moscow is not genuine in its appeals for peace.
“Each such terrorist Russian strike is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia,” Zelenskyy said on Sunday. “Russia is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day. The world may go on a weekend break, but the war continues, regardless of weekends and weekdays. This cannot be ignored. Silence of America, silence of others around the world only encourage Putin.”
“Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped,” he added. “Sanctions will certainly help. Determination matters now — the determination of the United States, of European countries, and of all those around the world who seek peace. The world knows all the weaknesses of the Russian economy.”
“The war can be stopped, but only through the necessary force of pressure on Russia,” Zelenskyy said. “Putin must be forced to think not about launching missiles, but about ending the war.”
Andriy Yermak — the head of Zelenskyy’s office — wrote on Telegram early Sunday, “Instead of a ceasefire, there are murders.”
“Without pressure, nothing will change and Russia and its allies will only build up forces for such murders in Western countries,” Yermak continued. “Moscow will fight as long as it has the ability to produce weapons.”
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