Russia launches deadliest aerial attack in months, killing 18 in Ukraine

A Ukrainian drone attack killed two people in Russia, Moscow says, after an Orthodox Easter truce. Russia launches deadliest drone and missile attack in months, killing 18 in Ukraine Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Rescuers work at the site of a Russian missile strike in Kyiv Two rescuers are silhouetted against a backdrop of fire in Kyiv Russia launches deadliest aerial attack in months, killing 18 in Ukraine Russia launched more than 700 drones and missiles at Ukraine in multiple waves overnight, killing at least 18 people in what local officials said was the deadliest attack in months. Officials said nine people had been killed in the southern port city of Odesa, five in the central city of Dnipro, and four - including a child - in the capital, Kyiv. Officials said nine people had been killed in the southern port city of Odesa, in the central city of Dnipro, and four - including a child - in the capital, Kyiv. In Russia, two people - including a child - were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in the southern Krasnodar region, Moscow said. This comes after a brief ceasefire took place over Orthodox Easter last weekend - though both sides accused one another of hundreds of violations. This comes after a brief ceasefire took place over Orthodox Easter last weekend - though both sides accused one another of Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In Kyiv, warning sirens jolted people awake at 02:30 local time on Thursday (23:30 GMT on Wednesday), followed soon after by the first explosions. Images posted online by eyewitnesses show bright orange fires and huge plumes of black smoke in central areas of the city. In one video, a drone was filmed slamming straight into the side of an apartment block. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram that a 12-year-old boy was among four people killed. Another 45 people were injured. The mayor added that rescuers had pulled a mother and child from the ruins of a 16-storey residential building that collapsed in the city's central Podil district. Four emergency medical workers were among those injured in the north of the capital. In Dnipro, regional head Oleksandr Ganzha said four people were killed and dozen had been injured in the Russian attack - before the city's Mayor Borys Filatov said on Thursday that another body had been found. In the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, a drone strike injured a 77-year-old woman and a 66-year-old man, an official said. Two cities in the south, Mykolaiv and Kherson, have been left without power, according to local officials. Ukraine's air force said on Thursday morning that Russia had launched 659 drones and 44 cruise and ballistic missiles in the prior 24 hours. It said that 636 drones and 31 missiles had been shot down - but there had been direct hits in 26 locations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, writing on X that it proved that US and European sanctions against Russia should not be weakened. "Russia is betting on war, and that is exactly how the response should be – we must protect lives with all our might and press for peace with all our might as well," he said. Two women look out of a window of an apartment block at the site of a Russian missile strike in Kyiv. Photo: 16 April 2026 Zelensky warned earlier this week that Ukraine was facing a critical shortage of Patriot air defence missiles, the only means it has of intercepting Russia's ballistic missiles. Global stocks of the US-made missiles are limited and many have been diverted to the Middle East since the US and Israel began attacking Iran in February. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the latest Russian attack a "war crime" and urged allies to increase pressure on Moscow and support for Kyiv. "All decisions required to increase pressure on the aggressor must be unblocked now," Sybiha wrote on X, referring to sanctions. Ukraine is also anxious for a €90bn ($106bn; £78bn) EU loan to be released as soon as possible now that the chief opponent of that, Viktor Orbán, has been voted out of power in Hungary. The money is to be split between Ukraine's defence needs and support for its economy. In Russia's Krasnodar region, two people - including a 14-year-old girl - were killed in the city of Tuapse in a Ukrainian overnight drone attack, its Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said. He added that a further five people had been injured. The war in Ukraine is now in its fifth year and there have been several rounds of peace talks, with the US acting as a mediator. However, the process has been stalled since US President Donald Trump shifted his focus to the war in the Middle East. What Ukraine has repeatedly proposed is a full, stable ceasefire as a first step towards negotiating a lasting end to Russia's invasion. But Moscow insists on agreeing the peace deal first, prompting accusations from Kyiv that Russia is not serious about ending the fighting. An elderly woman walks past the ruins of a house in Donetsk Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of hundreds of ceasefire violations Ukrainian drone pilots from the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade 'Kholodnyi Yar' operate a 'Vampire' unmanned aerial system (UAS) during training. Ukraine's military to get biggest-ever shipment of UK drones A firefighter directs water from a hose pipe at the wreck of a car on fire. In the background are a building and a fence, with a farm vehicle on the other side. Debris is strewn on the ground Russia chose 'Easter escalation' over ceasefire, says Zelensky The vehicle will be driven to Mykolaiv, where it will be converted into an ambulance. With attention on the Middle East, Defence Secretary John Healey said 'Putin wants us to be distracted.' Tobias Sullivan, Rhys Edwards, Jordan Bailey and Jake Trask plan to drive vet supplies to Kharkiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his nation's forces would respond "symmetrically" to Russian attacks. Easter festivities are muted in Kharkiv as Ukrainians expect fighting to flare up again after a weekend truce. Since 2010, Orbán has transformed Hungary into what the European Parliament has denounced as a "hybrid regime of electoral autocracy". Vladimir Putin announced the truce, which will last from Saturday afternoon through Easter Sunday. Pershore Phoenix Dragon Boat Club is helping Odesa Dragons in Ukraine after a drone strike.