At least seven people are dead, including a 5-year-old girl, after Russia launched nearly 150 drones across Ukraine overnight — just a day before cease-fire talks are set to resume, officials said.
The Kremlin fired 147 explosive drones early Sunday across the Kharkiv, Sumy, Chernihiv, Odesa and Donetsk regions, with the Ukrainian military able to shoot down or deflect 122 of the UAVs.
One of the drones that made it through Ukraine’s defences hit the capital city of Kyiv, killing three people; including the little girl, her father and an 80-year-old woman, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Another 10 people were injured in the blast, according to the city’s military administration.
The attack saw sirens blaring in the capital for more than five hours as Russian drones were blown out of the sky, with the debris falling onto residential buildings.
Four other people were killed in the attack on the Donetsk region, including three who were blown up in a single strike in the frontline town of Dobropillya, regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the daily mass drone attacks have become the norm for his country and even Kyiv, which is one of the most fortified cities in Ukraine.
“This week alone, more than 1,580 guided aerial bombs, almost 1,100 strike drones and 15 missiles of various types were used against our people,” he said. “New solutions are needed, with new pressure on Moscow to stop both these strikes and this war.”
Andrii Yermak, Zelensky’s chief of staff, said Sunday’s attack is yet further evidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in a cease-fire.
“Russia is not stopping the fire, Putin wants to keep killing civilians, it must be stopped,” Yermak said in a statement.
Kyiv’s counterattack saw Russia shooting down 59 drones, including two that allegedly killed two people inside their cars in the Rostov and Belgorod regions, according to the Kremlin.
An internal view of a burned flat at the site of the night drone attack on a nine-story residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 March 2025. SERGEY DOLZHENKO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The strikes came just a day ahead of the cease-fire meeting between Ukrainian and Russian negotiations in Saudi Arabia.
The two are expected to hold indirect talks with US mediators to implement a pause in long-range attacks targeting energy facilities and civilian infrastructure.
Both sides have targeted each other’s energy facilities throughout the war, with the Kremlin causing repeated blackouts across Ukraine and Kyiv bombarding Russia’s profitable oil plants.
Kyiv negotiators are expected to meet with American mediators earlier to discuss details for the partial cease-fire, Zelensky said.
A key topic is said to be the establishment of safe trade routes in the tumultuous Black Sea, which Russia has tried to repeatedly take since mid-2022.
Along with a partial cease-fire deal, the US is aiming to push for a broader truce to take form by April 20, with hopes of ending the war, sources familiar with the talks said.
