Russia launched its largest aerial assault of the Ukraine war overnight, targeting government building for first time.
According to CNN, Russia in the attack on Sunday, September 7, deployed more than 800 drones and striking a Kyiv government building for the first time.
An infant was among at least three people killed during drone strikes on several residential buildings in the capital, which was under an air-raid siren for 11 hours.
Moscow’s forces launched a total of 810 drones, four ballistic missiles and nine cruise missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force said. While most were shot down by air defenses, 54 drones and nine missiles hit targets across Ukraine, the air force said.
That surpasses the size of a July attack that was previously the largest of the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022. It also comes after recent attempts by Kyiv’s Western allies to broker a peace deal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as “vile,” saying that “such killings now, when real diplomacy could have started a long time ago, are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war.”
“The world can make the Kremlin’s criminals stop killing, all we need is political will,” Zelensky said.
Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said any Western troops in Ukraine would be considered “legitimate targets for defeat,” a day after it was announced that dozens of Western countries have pledged to contribute to a potential peacekeeping force there if a ceasefire deal is agreed.