Zelenskyy says 500 drones and over 40 missiles used in Russia’s ‘vile attack’ on Ukraine
In a post to Telegram this morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched about 500 drones and over 40 missiles in the overnight attack on Ukraine, killing at least four people.
He said that the main targets were Kyiv, and the Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv and Odesa regions.
Zelenskyy said “civilian infrastructure facilities”, a rubber factory and apartment buildings were all damaged in the “brutal strikes” seen in the Russian attack.
Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram:
This vile attack came as a virtual culmination of the UN general assembly week, and this is how Russia is making its real position known.
Moscow wants to continue to fight and kill and deserves only the harshest pressure in the world.
The Kremlin benefits from continuing this war and terror as long as there are energy funds and a shadow navy.
We will continue to strike back to deprive Russia of these opportunities to earn and force diplomacy.
Anyone who wants peace should support President Trump’s efforts and stop all Russian imports. The time for decisive action is long overdue, and we count on a strong response from the US, Europe, the G7, and the G20.
Key events
The Kremlin has dismissed threats by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Kremlin officials should know where the bomb shelters were. Zelenskyy suggested to Axios that the centres of Russian power, like the Kremlin, were potential targets, saying that Kremlin officials “have to know where the bomb shelters are.”
“Zelenskyy is trying to demonstrate to the Europeans, who now act as the breadwinners, that he is such a brave soldier,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state television in comments reported by Reuters.
When asked directly by state television’s Kremlin correspondent Pavel Zarubin how the Kremlin would perceive an attack on the centre of Russian power, Peskov said that “it’s better not to even talk about it.”
Russian aerial bombardment on Ukraine involved nearly 600 drones, Ukrainian air force says
We have an update on the details surrounding the huge overnight Russian attack on Ukraine that is reported to have killed at least 4 people and injured dozens of others.
Ukraine’s air force said in an update that Russia fired a total of 595 exploding drones and decoys and 48 missiles.
Of those, air defences shot down or jammed 566 drones and 45 missiles.
More drones observed over Danish military sites overnight for the second straight day, army says
Nato yesterday vowed to upgrade its mission in the Baltic Sea after Denmark’s armed forces said unidentified drones were seen near the country’s military installations overnight into Saturday.
This morning, Denmark’s army said that more drones were observed over Danish military sites overnight into Sunday.
“The Armed Forces can confirm that drones have been observed at several of the Armed Forces’ locations during the night. Several capacities were deployed,” the military said in a statement early on Sunday, without providing any more details.
There have been several suspicious drone incursions near airports and critical infrastructure this week.
Copenhagen Airport, the Nordic region’s busiest, closed for several hours late on Monday as several large drones were seen in its airspace, while possible drone sightings also temporarily shuttered Oslo airport in Norway.
Five smaller Danish airports, both civilian and military, were shut temporarily in the following days.
In response, Nato said it would “conduct even more enhanced vigilance with new multi-domain assets in the Baltic Sea region”. The alliance said the new assets included “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance platforms and at least one air-defence frigate”.
Russia is the prime suspect behind the recent drone incursions but there has been no definitive proof to back this up. Copenhagen is to host a EU summit gathering heads of government on Wednesday and Thursday, with security likely to be high on the agenda.
The US president, Donald Trump, said last Tuesday that he believed Ukraine could win back all territory lost to Russia, a dramatic shift from his repeated calls for Kyiv to make concessions to end the war.
Trump posted on social media soon after meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the UN general assembly gathering of world leaders.
“I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” Trump wrote.
“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option.”
The US president’s comments marked a sharp departure from his previous suggestions that Ukraine would never be able to reclaim all the territory that Russia has occupied since seizing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
Russia controls 114,918 square km (44,370 square miles), or about 19% of Ukraine, and has taken 4,729 square km of Ukrainian territory in the past year, according to the DeepState map project.
In an address at the UN general assembly in New York on Saturday, Moscow’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned that “any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response” but insisted Russia has no intention of attacking EU or Nato member states.
In a wide-ranging speech, Lavrov said threats against Russia by western countries were becoming “increasingly common”.
“Russia has never had and does not have any such intentions” of attacking European or Nato countries, he said, after the alliance warned Russia last week it would use all means to defend against any further breaches of its airspace after the downing of Russian drones over Poland and Estonia’s report of an intrusion by Russian fighter jets (see post at 08.56 for more details).
“However, any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response. There should be no doubt about this among those in Nato and the EU,” Lavrov added.
Lavrov said that only the “politically blind” would expect Ukraine to one day return to the borders it had before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, an indirect response to Donald Trump’s assertion that Kyiv could retake all its occupied land from Russia.
Lavrov also singled out German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, referring to what he said was “militaristic rhetoric” and said Moscow was alarmed by remarks by politicians in EU and Nato capitals of a looming world war three as a “likely scenario.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia will expand its aggression beyond Ukraine if not stopped.
Kyiv region resident Mark Sergeev and his family were sleeping when a missile hit their apartment in the middle of the night.
“I still can’t believe that the children are alive. It’s such a blessing from God. They were right under the roof when it hit them. The roof was torn off right above my eldest son’s bed,” the 35-year-old told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Anna, 26, another victim of the Russian strikes, said her flat was covered in broken glass after it was hit.
“I was in shock, so I didn’t hear much … But I heard a rocket flying for a long time, and then there was just an explosion and the windows shattered,” she said.
Here is a statement from Russia’s defence ministry confirming Moscow carried out a massive overnight strike on Ukraine:
Last night, the armed forces of the Russian Federation launched a massive strike with high-precision long-range air, sea-based weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine used in the interests of the armed forces of Ukraine, as well as the infrastructure of military airfields.
Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said its air defences shot down 41 Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday.
Zaporizhzhia’s regional head, Ivan Fedorov, said at least 31 people were injured from the Russian attack in the region this morning.
Earlier, he said three children (aged 9, 11 and 12) were hospitalised as a result of the attack.
Writing on Telegram, Fedorov said:
Two boys – one with mine-explosive injuries, the other with carbon monoxide poisoning – are in serious condition.
Doctors assess the condition of the 9-year-old girl as average. She is still being examined.
Here are some of the latest images being sent to us over the newswires from Kyiv, where some residents have fled to metro stations for safety to escape the Russian attack:
Zelenskyy says 500 drones and over 40 missiles used in Russia’s ‘vile attack’ on Ukraine
In a post to Telegram this morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched about 500 drones and over 40 missiles in the overnight attack on Ukraine, killing at least four people.
He said that the main targets were Kyiv, and the Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv and Odesa regions.
Zelenskyy said “civilian infrastructure facilities”, a rubber factory and apartment buildings were all damaged in the “brutal strikes” seen in the Russian attack.
Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram:
This vile attack came as a virtual culmination of the UN general assembly week, and this is how Russia is making its real position known.
Moscow wants to continue to fight and kill and deserves only the harshest pressure in the world.
The Kremlin benefits from continuing this war and terror as long as there are energy funds and a shadow navy.
We will continue to strike back to deprive Russia of these opportunities to earn and force diplomacy.
Anyone who wants peace should support President Trump’s efforts and stop all Russian imports. The time for decisive action is long overdue, and we count on a strong response from the US, Europe, the G7, and the G20.
Jennifer Rankin
The EU has agreed to move forward with plans for a drone wall at the heart of its eastern defences as momentum grows for a €140bn loan to Ukraine based on Russian frozen assets.
After a meeting with ministers from 10 mostly central and eastern European member states plus Ukraine on Friday, the EU’s defence commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, said a drone wall to protect against incursions from the skies was an immediate priority and core element of the bloc’s eastern flank defences.
The issue has risen up the agenda after a spate of drone incursions in Denmark, Poland and Romania as well as the violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets while Russia continues its deadly bombardment of Ukraine.
Kubilius said it was urgent to have an effective detection system, including radars and acoustic sensors, as well as capabilities to intercept and destroy drones.
The commissioner acknowledged the potential mismatch in cost involved in drone defence.
He said:
If you are using air, and air missiles from your air fighter to shoot the drone, then you are using … [a] missile which costs 1m to kill the drone which costs 10,000.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin criticised the suggestion of shooting down Russian military planes over Europe as “reckless” and “irresponsible” after Donald Trump suggested alliance members should do so.
You can read more here:
Poland scrambles jets in response to Russia’s attack on Kyiv
Poland’s military said it had scrambled fighter jets in its airspace and put ground-based air defence systems on high alert in response to the Russian strikes in Ukraine.
The moves were preventive and aimed at securing Polish airspace and protecting citizens, especially in areas adjacent to Ukraine, the military said.
Poland also closed the airspace near its south-eastern cities of Lublin and Rzeszow until at least 0400 GMT on Sunday.
Tensions have mounted on Nato’s eastern flank with Russia in recent weeks.
More than 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace on the night of 9-10 September, prompting Nato jets to down some of them and western officials to say Russia was testing the alliance’s readiness and resolve.
Estonia accused Russia of sending three fighter jets into its airspace last week, while Romania has come close to shooting down a drone.
The violations have prompted both Poland and Estonia to request this month that Nato open consultations under article 4 of the alliance’s treaty, which states that members will consult whenever the territory, political independence or security of any is threatened.
The talks do not automatically lead to any action, unlike Article 5 of the treaty, which states that Nato’s collective security guarantee, under which allies pledge that an attack on one member of the alliance constitutes an attack on them all.
Russia denied its planes entered Estonian airspace and said none of its drones targeted Poland.
At least four people killed after massive Russian attack on Kyiv, officials say
Welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Kyiv came under heavy bombardment early on Sunday in what independent monitors said was one of the biggest Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
At least four people, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed in the attacks, according to Ukrainian officials.
Timur Tkachenko, head of the capital’s military administration, had said early reports pointed to “three fatalities”, “including a 12-year-old girl killed by Russians”.
Tkachenko has since revised the toll upwards to four, as a “body of the deceased has been found”. At least 10 people were also reported injured in the attack on Kyiv.
Drones hit several regions overnight, including the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, where at least 16 people, including three children, were injured, authorities said.
Russia launched another massive air attack on Ukrainian cities while people were sleeping.
Again, hundreds of drones and missiles, destroying residential buildings and causing civilian casualties.
We must maximise the cost of further escalation for Russia.
Putin must know… pic.twitter.com/PteTPyV6pn
— Andrii Sybiha 🇺🇦 (@andrii_sybiha) September 28, 2025
Ukraine’s foreign minister said hundreds of drones and missiles had been used in the widespread attacks across Ukraine.
“Russia launched another massive air attack on Ukrainian cities while people were sleeping,” Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister wrote in a post on X.
“Again, hundreds of drones and missiles, destroying residential buildings and causing civilian casualties,” he said.