KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital, kyiv, and the surrounding region with dozens of missiles and drones in an overnight airstrike that lasted hours and killed at least 16 people, officials said Thursday. Moscow’s forces have in recent months stepped up their ballistic missile attacks on kyiv, exploiting Ukraine’s chronic shortage of American-made Patriot air defense interceptors, the only weapon in its arsenal capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked countries to send more Patriot interceptors, but international stockpiles are low amid the Iran war and Ukraine’s more than four-year fight against Russia’s all-out invasion. Russia’s nighttime bombing also included cruise missiles and drones powered by fast-flying aircraft that put more pressure on air defenses, the Ukrainian air force said. Explosions echoed throughout the city in the darkness. kyiv was the main target, but attacks were recorded at 28 locations across the country, according to the air force. Emergency services said 15 people died in the capital and another death in the kyiv region. About 40 people were wounded, Zelenskyy said, while airstrike warnings remained in effect until after dawn. “It was a massive attack,” Zelenskyy said on social media, adding that Russia “had been preparing it for a long time, combining different types of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones, with the aim of causing as much damage as possible to civilian infrastructure.” But the Russian Defense Ministry said the attack targeted a kyiv industrial site that makes components for Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missiles. Places dedicated to the production and storage of drones, an ammunition depot and a logistics center were also affected. Russia and Ukraine have hit each other with drones and missiles as their armies struggle to gain the upper hand on the 1,250-kilometer (780-mile) front line, where huge numbers of drones are pinning down troops. Ukraine has attempted to move the war to Russian soil through long-range drone attacks against oil facilities and other infrastructure. The Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday morning that air defenses shot down 726 Ukrainian drones overnight over several Russian regions, annexed Crimea and the Black and Azov seas, in one of Ukraine’s largest airstrikes of the war. There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. Attacks put Ukraine’s neighbors on alert Russia’s relentless attack on kyiv has spooked other European countries, especially those bordering Ukraine, which fear what Russian President Vladimir Putin might have in store for the continent. As the Russian attack on kyiv unfolded, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces activated its military aviation operations, ground-based air defense systems and radar reconnaissance. Subscribe to Morning Wire: Our flagship newsletter breaks down the day’s biggest headlines. Polish and other NATO military aircraft were deployed to monitor the country’s airspace, the Polish news agency PAP reported. Romania’s Defense Ministry said an unidentified drone crashed and caught fire in an uninhabited area near the border with Ukraine. Two Spanish F-18 aircraft, deployed on an aerial surveillance mission in Romania, were deployed after 2 a.m. local time to monitor a group of “aerial targets” near the border, the ministry said. Moldova’s Defense Ministry also said its airspace was violated by at least one unauthorized drone. Russia “is increasingly testing the resolve of NATO and its partners, violating the sovereignty of neighboring states and deliberately expanding the risks posed by its war far beyond Ukraine,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media. Solomianskyi districts, damaging residential buildings, a medical center and an educational institution. Emergency crews arrived at the scene and pulled people out from under the rubble. Larysa Bondaruk, 60, was sitting on the ground holding her cat, Chanel, who had been rescued by firefighters. With tears in his eyes, he said his neighbor’s grandson had been trapped under the rubble and died. His apartment was severely damaged. “A rocket hit the roof. It was incredibly loud. Immediately, debris and doors were blown away. There were plumes of smoke, plumes of fire, screaming, crying and despair,” he said. “Two people died in our building, but the rescuers responded quickly and professionally. I am grateful to them for that.”In the Solomianskyi district, the top two floors of a nine-story residential building were destroyed and fires broke out on other floors. People were also trapped in two residential buildings and a school shelter. ___AP reporters Vasilisa Stepanenko and Hanna Arhirova in kyiv, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin and Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England contributed to this story.___Follow AP coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
