Russia pounds Kyiv with missiles and drones, Ukraine strikes back in Taganrog, Krasnodar

Russia launched a mass overnight missile and drone strike on Ukraine, killing at least seven people in Kyiv and hitting energy infrastructure nationwide, while Ukraine responded with attacks on the Russian cities of Taganrog and Krasnodar.

The site of a Russian strike on a nine-storey residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 25 November 2025, amid the Russian invasion. At least seven people were killed and dozens of others injured, including two children, in an overnight combined Russian attack on Kyiv, according to the State Emergency Service report.

Photo: EPA/SERGEY KOZLOV

Russia carried out a new large-scale attack from Monday night into Tuesday, focusing on the Ukrainian capital, officials said. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that at least seven people were killed and 20 wounded in the city. Powerful explosions were heard in several districts and fires broke out in residential buildings.

After 8 a.m. local time, explosions could still be heard in Kyiv. Debris struck a 22-storey apartment block, causing fires between the fifth and eighth floors. Heating supplies were cut off in many buildings, as temperatures in the city hovered around 3 degrees Celsius on Tuesday morning.

“In the Sviatoshyn district, according to preliminary information, four people were killed and at least three were injured. The Russians are deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure and residential buildings. Cynical terror,” said Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, on the Telegram messenger.

Damage was also reported in the Odesa region, where ports, food warehouses and infrastructure facilities were targeted. Russian forces also struck the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Cherkasy regions, focusing mainly on energy sites.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia used 22 missiles of various types and more than 460 drones, mostly Shahed-type, against Ukraine. Some of the drones violated the airspace of Moldova and Romania. The attacks were aimed primarily at Kyiv and the surrounding region.

Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said the strikes were the Kremlin’s response to peace initiatives by the United States.

Ukraine’s energy ministry reported a broad, coordinated assault on the country’s power infrastructure, saying the aim was to destabilize the Ukrainian energy system.

In response to the Russian offensive, Ukrainian forces carried out strikes on Russian territory, including the cities of Taganrog in the Rostov region and Krasnodar. One person was killed in Taganrog, according to local reports. The governor of Krasnodar Krai said the region had experienced one of the longest and most intense Ukrainian attacks so far.

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Source: PAP, Polskie Radio 24