<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Waves of drone and missile attacks targeted Kyiv overnight into Friday in the largest aerial assault since </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/russia-ukraine" rel="" target="" title="Russia's invasion of Ukraine"><span>Russia's invasion of Ukraine</span></a><span> began more than three years ago, officials said, amid a renewed </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/russia" rel="" target="" title="Russian"><span>Russian</span></a><span> push to capture more of its neighbour's land.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The barrage killed one person and wounded at least 26 others, including a child, and inflicted severe damage across multiple districts of the capital in a seven-hour onslaught, authorities said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Blasts lit up the night sky and echoed across the city as air raid sirens wailed. </span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-and-vladimir-putin-discuss-iran-and-ukraine-in-phone-call-kremlin-official-says/a549fb6b-b13c-4f7e-8666-103597db92e0"><strong><span>Putin and Trump discuss Iran and Ukraine in phone call, Kremlin says</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The blue lights of emergency vehicles reflected off high-rise buildings, and debris blocked city streets.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It was a harsh, sleepless night," </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/ukraine" rel="" target="" title="Ukrainian"><span>Ukrainian</span></a><span> President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Russia has been stepping up its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities. Less than a week ago, Russia launched what was then the largest aerial assault of the war. </span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/russia-ukraine-conflict-updates-kyiv-hammered-in-largest-missile-and-drone-barrage-since-war-in-ukraine-began/1e66401c-4775-442d-805c-aa220a566816" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That strategy has coincided with a concerted Russian effort to break through parts of the roughly 1000-kilometre front line, where Ukrainian troops are under severe pressure.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Russia launched 550 drones and missiles across Ukraine during the night, the country's air force said. The majority were Shahed drones, but Russia also launched 11 missiles in the attack.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Alya Shahlai, a 23-year-old Kyiv wedding photographer, said that her home was destroyed in the attack.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We were all in the (basement) shelter because it was so loud, staying home would have been suicidal," she told The Associated Press. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We went down 10 minutes before and then there was a loud explosion and the lights went out in the shelter, people were panicking."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Five ambulances were damaged while responding to calls, officials said, and emergency services removed more than 300 tons of rubble.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Trump 'not happy' with Russia's attacks</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The attack on Kyiv began the same day a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-and-vladimir-putin-discuss-iran-and-ukraine-in-phone-call-kremlin-official-says/a549fb6b-b13c-4f7e-8666-103597db92e0" rel="" target="" title="phone call took place between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin"><span>phone call took place between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On Friday, Trump and Zelenskyy had a "very important and meaningful" conversation by phone, said Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential office. He said that details of the talks would be provided later.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>US-led international peace efforts have been fruitless so far. Recent direct peace talks have led only to sporadic exchanges of prisoners of war, wounded troops and the bodies of fallen soldiers. No date has been set for further negotiations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ukrainian officials and the Russian Defence Ministry said another prisoner swap took place on Friday, though neither side said how many soldiers were involved. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Zelenskyy said most of the Ukrainians had been in Russian captivity since 2022. The Ukrainian soldiers were classified as "wounded and seriously ill."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When asked if he made any progress during his call with Putin on a deal to end the fighting in Ukraine, Trump said: "No, I didn't make any progress with him today at all."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin because I don't think he's there. I don't think he's looking to stop (the fighting), and that's too bad," Trump said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>According to Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign affairs adviser, the Russian leader emphasised that Moscow will seek to achieve its goals in Ukraine and remove the "root causes" of the conflict.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Russia will not back down from these goals," Ushakov told reporters after the call.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Russia's army crossed the border on February 24, 2022, in an all-out invasion that Putin sought to justify by falsely saying it was needed to protect Russian-speaking civilians in eastern Ukraine and prevent the country from joining NATO. Zelenskyy has repeatedly called out Russian disinformation efforts.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Pentagon halts deliveries of air defence missiles</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US has paused some shipments of military aid to Ukraine, including crucial air defense missiles. Ukraine's main European backers are considering how they can help pick up the slack. Zelenskyy says plans are afoot to build up Ukraine's domestic arms industry, but scaling up will take time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Ukrainian response needs to be speedy as Russia escalates its aerial attacks. Russia launched 5438 drones at Ukraine in June, a new monthly record, according to official data collated by The Associated Press. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said earlier this week that Russia also launched more than 330 missiles, including nearly 80 ballistic missiles, at Ukrainian towns and cities that month.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Throughout the night, AP journalists in Kyiv heard the constant buzzing of drones overhead and the sound of explosions and intense machine gun fire as Ukrainian forces tried to intercept the aerial assault.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Absolutely horrible and sleepless night in Kyiv," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on social media platform X. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"One of the worst so far."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ukraine's Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko described "families running into metro stations, basements, underground parking garages, mass destruction in the heart of our capital."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"What Kyiv endured last night, cannot be called anything but a deliberate act of terror," she wrote on X.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Kyiv was the primary target of the countrywide attack. At least 14 people were hospitalised, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Zelenskyy called the Kyiv attack "cynical." In Moscow, the Defence Ministry claimed its forces targeted factories producing drones and other military equipment in Kyiv.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Russia strikes 5 Ukrainian regions</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ukrainian air defenses shot down 270 targets, including two cruise missiles. Another 208 targets were lost from radar and presumed jammed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Russia successfully hit eight locations with nine missiles and 63 drones. Debris from intercepted drones fell across at least 33 sites.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In addition to the capital, the Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Kyiv regions also sustained damage, Zelenskyy said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Emergency services reported damage in at least five of Kyiv's 10 districts.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><em><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727"><em><strong><span>Apple App Store</span></strong></em></a><span> </span><em><strong><span>and</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU"><em><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></em></a><em><strong><span>.</span></strong></em></div></div>