Not a single one of the 23 ballistic missiles Russia fired at Kyiv on Sunday night was intercepted, the Ukrainian Air Force has admitted, blaming a “serious shortage” of interceptor missiles. At least 15 people were killed in the capital, with another eight dead in the wider Kyiv region, as the second large-scale Russian attack in a week tore through residential buildings.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday’s “massive Russian attack” consisted of 68 missiles and 351 strike drones. While the air force managed to shoot down or suppress 37 missiles and 326 drones, the ballistic missiles – which travel at high speed and are difficult to intercept – punched through. Zelensky warned that Moscow would continue to hit residential buildings as long as defensive Patriot missiles “remain in our allies’ stockpiles”. He appealed for “strong decisions” at this week’s Nato summit to provide Kyiv with air defences.
“None of 23 Russian ballistic missiles shot down over Kyiv due to interceptor shortage; 23 killed.”
The aftermath in Kyiv was one of ruin. Three large blocks of flats partially collapsed, some directly hit by missiles. In the Podilskyi district, a giant hole gaped through an apartment block. Rescue teams worked through the rubble with sniffer dogs while cranes lifted concrete slabs, sending bricks crashing down. A woman, too distraught to speak, sat crying on a bench; a team helping her said two of her relatives were buried under the wreckage.
One resident, Olena, described the moment of impact: “After the first blast, nearby, the glass shattered and hit us, almost on our heads. Then everything was shaking.” She admitted she had not gone to the bomb shelter when sirens wailed because she was exhausted and wanted to sleep before work. “I feel like I have calmed down, but I am still trembling all over,” she said.
Helicopters shuttled back and forth, carrying water from the river to douse fires. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said 56 people were injured in the capital, including seven children, and a further 48 in the wider Kyiv region. The attacks came despite Ukrainian successes against cruise missiles and drones – but ballistic missiles, as Zelensky noted, remain a deadly gap in the country’s defences.