Overnight Russian Strikes Kill at Least 4 in Kyiv; Dozens Injured Across Multiple Regions

The Big Picture

Russia carried out a nationwide overnight barrage on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2025, that Kyiv officials described as one of the most extensive of the year, with nearly 500 attack drones and more than 40 missiles launched during a 12-hour assault, President Volodymyr Zelensky said. The heaviest damage was reported in the capital and in Zaporizhzhia.

What’s New

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said at least four people, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed, and more than 70 were injured in Kyiv and other regions. A nurse and a patient died after a strike damaged the city’s Institute of Cardiology, according to Klymenko. Nearly 20 locations across the capital’s six districts reported damage, including a partially destroyed five-story residential building.

In Zaporizhzhia, officials said strikes hit civilian sites, including a multistory building. Regional authorities counted damage to nine houses and 14 high-rises, along with a school and production facilities. In Kyiv Oblast, local offices reported dozens of injuries and fires in residential blocks. Air defenses were active over Khmelnytskyi, with no casualties initially reported, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Overnight, monitoring channels tracked five Tu-95 bombers departing the Olenya airfield around 1:45 a.m. local time, followed by alerts of MiG-31K activity. Ukraine’s Air Force later signaled additional launches from the Engels base before dawn. Poland scrambled fighter jets and briefly restricted airspace over Lublin and Rzeszów, a precaution used during earlier mass attacks.

What They’re Saying

“Savage strikes, a deliberate, targeted terror against ordinary cities.”
— President Zelenskyy

Russian forces have intensified deep attacks during the summer and early fall, using Shahed-type UAVs and cruise and ballistic missiles repeatedly to target cities and energy infrastructure. The latest barrage comes after a series of mass strikes in early September and amid the waning days of the U.N. General Assembly’s high-level week, as Kyiv called for tighter sanctions enforcement and additional air defense systems.

What’s Next

Emergency responders are dismantling wreckage and restoring power supply in affected districts as authorities conduct inspection of structural damage to residential homes and public infrastructure. Kyiv continues to request additional air defense interceptors and defense of infrastructure. Provincial governments urged people to follow air-raid precautions while waiting for additional long-range attacks.

The Bottom Line

The nighttime raid is indicative of the extent and duration of Russia’s air campaign to date as it heads into winter: widespread deployment of missiles and drones against cities, sustained probing of air defenses, and extending collateral damage to civilian infrastructure.