“There are people trapped under the rubble.”
“I ran out and started calling for my husband.”
A fresh wave of Russian missile and drone strikes tore through Kyiv overnight, killing civilians, damaging apartment buildings and leaving rescue workers searching through piles of concrete for survivors.
The attack, one of the largest seen in recent months, hit the Ukrainian capital before dawn and sent thousands of residents rushing into underground metro stations for safety. Ukrainian officials said several residential areas were struck as explosions echoed across the city.
By Tuesday morning, emergency crews were still digging through the remains of a damaged apartment building in Kyiv’s Podilskyi district.
City military administration chief Tymur Tkachenko said authorities feared people were still trapped beneath the rubble.
“Preliminary reports indicate that there are people trapped under the rubble,” he said.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko described the strike as a “massive enemy attack” and said a residential building partially collapsed after what officials called a double tap strike, a tactic in which a second attack follows shortly after the first.
Across the city, apartment blocks were damaged, fires broke out and cars burned in the streets.
At least four people were reported dead in Kyiv, while dozens more were injured, including children. Emergency officials said residential neighborhoods in multiple districts suffered damage.
For residents, the destruction was personal.
65year old Olena Dniprovska was inside her apartment when the blast hit.
Blood could be seen on her face as rescue workers helped her from the damaged building.
“I went out into the corridor with the phone, and before I understood what happened, everything fell on my head,” she said.
“The glass, and the door blew off.”
Her husband, Yevhen, was also caught in the explosion.
“I ran out into the front door and started calling my husband from the room, but he was also blown out by the blast wave,” she said.
Standing outside what remained of their home, she struggled to take in the damage.
“Now I have nowhere to live. The apartment is completely destroyed. No doors, no windows, no balcony.”
The assault was not limited to Kyiv.
Russian missiles and drones struck several cities across Ukraine, including Dnipro, Kharkiv, Poltava and Zaporizhzhia.
In Dnipro, officials said multiple people were killed and dozens injured. Among the victims were children. A rescue worker also died after a second strike hit while emergency crews were responding to the first attack.
Kharkiv was also hit.
Authorities there reported injuries, damaged homes and people trapped beneath collapsed sections of residential buildings.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles during the overnight assault, making it one of the largest attacks of the war this year. Air defense units intercepted many of them, but a significant number still reached their targets.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned in recent days that Russia could launch a major strike following growing tensions and escalating attacks between the two countries.
Russia later said the strikes were carried out in response to what it called Ukrainian “terrorist acts” and claimed it had targeted military-related facilities and infrastructure.
Ukraine rejected those claims, pointing instead to the damaged apartment buildings, injured civilians and families left homeless.
As rescue operations continued Tuesday, many residents remained gathered outside damaged buildings, watching firefighters and emergency workers search through debris.
Some waited for news about relatives.
Others simply stared at what was left of their homes.
The war is now well into its fifth year.
But for families standing beside collapsed buildings in Kyiv, the reality of it arrived once again before sunrise.
