Russia launches major strike on Kyiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia

Russia launched a large overnight attack on Ukraine early Saturday, targeting several regions with drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, Ukrainian officials said.

Explosions were reported in the capital Kyiv, while the Sumy region and parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast also came under attack, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The strike began late on March 13 and continued into the early hours of March 14, according to Ukraine’s Air Force and regional authorities.

Ukraine’s military said Russian forces first launched waves of drones late in the evening. The first were detected over the Mykolaiv Oblast, before additional drones appeared across several regions after midnight.

Air defenses later tracked drones over Kherson Oblast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Kirovohrad Oblast, and the Kyiv region.

Around 3:05 a.m. local time, Russian forces reportedly launched several ballistic missiles toward Kyiv. Additional missile launches followed about an hour later.

Ukrainian monitoring channels suggested that some of the missiles could have been 3M22 Zircon hypersonic weapons, although this has not been officially confirmed.

At roughly the same time, Russian naval vessels carrying Kalibr cruise missiles were reportedly deployed into the Black Sea.

Ukraine’s Air Force later confirmed cruise missile launches from those ships, with the first missiles entering Ukrainian airspace through Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.

Russian strategic bombers, including Tu-95MS and Tu-160, were also launched during the night. The aircraft fired additional cruise missiles that entered Ukraine through the Sumy region.

Monitoring channels also warned that MiG-31K fighter jets—capable of carrying Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles—may have taken off, prompting a nationwide air raid alert.

Preliminary reports suggest that Kyiv was the primary target of the overnight strike.

Local authorities confirmed multiple explosions in the capital after 3:00 a.m. and again around 4:00 a.m., as Ukrainian air defense systems attempted to intercept incoming missiles.

Large numbers of drones were also reported heading toward Kyiv and surrounding areas. Officials have not yet confirmed the full extent of damage or casualties in the capital.

In the Zaporizhzhia region, authorities said Russian strikes damaged a residential building and caused a fire that was later extinguished by emergency services.

According to regional officials, four people were injured, including two children. The victims include a 35-year-old woman, a 40-year-old man, a 16-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy.

Russia has carried out repeated missile and drone strikes across Ukraine during the ongoing war.

The previous large combined attack took place on March 7, when missiles struck several cities, including Kharkiv and Kyiv.

During that strike, a missile hit a residential building in Kharkiv, causing significant damage and injuries.

Ukrainian authorities continue to monitor the latest attack and assess the scale of destruction across the affected regions.

News.Az 

By Aysel Mammadzada