Ukraine has been hit by the largest drone assault since Russia’s full-scale invasion, with nearly a thousand drones launched in a single day, causing deaths, injuries, and significant destruction across multiple cities.
Ukrainian authorities reported that 556 drones struck during daytime hours on Tuesday, killing at least three people and wounding dozens more, while the overnight barrage added further casualties.
The relentless attacks highlight Russia’s continued commitment to sustaining the conflict.
In Lviv, the 16th-century Bernardine monastery, part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, sustained damage, and a nearby residential building was engulfed in flames. Videos from local officials showed a drone hitting the building while it burned, forcing residents to flee. Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv region, reported that 32 people were injured in the strike.
In the western Ivano-Frankivsk region, two people were killed and four others, including a six-year-old, were wounded. Several structures, including a maternity hospital, were damaged, according to local authorities. The city of Ternopil also faced drone strikes, but no casualties were reported, while in central Vinnytsia, one person died and 13 were injured.
Ukraine’s Air Force said it intercepted most of the drones and missiles, yet multiple attacks still struck their targets. Spokesperson Yurii Ihnat noted that a "large number of drones" approached from the north, moving in organized formations. He added, "The geography of the strikes during the daytime was broader than at night... It can be said this was one of the largest attacks within a 24-hour period."
Volodymyr Zelensky, in a video address, stressed that the scale of the attacks "clearly shows that Russia has no intention of really ending this war." The ongoing conflict, which began in February 2022, has spared few areas of Ukraine, though western regions had previously experienced fewer attacks than areas closer to the eastern front.
Russia has yet to release an official statement on the latest strikes. Meanwhile, in Russia’s Kursk region, a Ukrainian drone attack on an agricultural facility left one man dead and 13 people injured, according to local officials. Efforts to broker peace, led by the United States, have stalled since February due to regional tensions involving the US, Israel, and Iran.
Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska highlighted the human toll on social media, urging the world not to treat Ukrainian suffering as just another headline. "Amid the news the world is drowning in every day, we will not let Ukrainian grief get lost, become just another statistic, a headline that will be casually skipped over," she wrote.