Kyiv condemns US 'silence' after Russia carries out largest air attack of conflict

Ukraine condemned the "silence" from the US yesterday after Russia carried out its largest air raid in three years of war during a second straight night of massive drone and ballistic missile strikes that killed at least 12 people, including three children.

- Peter Beaumont

Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the US to speak out against the Russian attacks after Ukrainian officials confirmed Moscow had launched 298 drones and 69 missiles in multiple waves on sites across the country.

"The silence of America, the silence of others in the world only encourages Putin," Ukraine's president wrote on Telegram. "Every such terrorist Russian strike is reason enough for new sanctions against Russia."

Russia's defence ministry said its air defences had shot down 110 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Meanwhile, Moscow and Kyiv also completed their biggest prisoner swap since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, with 1,000 captured soldiers and civilian prisoners exchanged by each side.

However, the scale of the latest aerial assault on Ukraine and its civilians prompted the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, to call for "the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war". She said on X: "Last night's attacks again show Russia bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine. Devastating to see children among innocent victims harmed and killed."

Kallas was echoed by the Estonian foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, who wrote on X: "Another night of Russia demonstrating its ongoing aim to wipe Ukraine off the map with swarms of drones & missiles - including ballistic ones.