Early Sunday, Russian missiles struck Kyiv, sparking fires in at least two districts and wounding one person, while Ukraine claimed long-range hits on a Russian airfield and a rocket facility that supports a satellite internet network. The escalation comes on day 1,636 of the war.
Klitschko wrote on Telegram that falling debris set a non-residential area in a northern suburb on fire. Several cars were ablaze, and another fire broke out just south of the city center. Unofficial Telegram channels shared photos described as market stalls burning. In recent weeks, Russia has conducted intense air attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
Meanwhile, Ukraine announced that its long-range strikes hit a Russian military airfield and the Progress rocket center in the Samara region, which supports the development of the Rassvet satellite internet network, an alternative to Starlink. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Flamingo cruise missiles struck the rocket facility, about 900 kilometers from Ukraine’s border, as part of a campaign to pressure Moscow by targeting sites deep inside Russia.
“It is important that Russia’s war potential be reduced. Peace is needed, and this must be evident in Russia: through concrete damage to specific facilities,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. He added that the airfield had hosted aircraft used to attack Ukraine.
Ukraine’s armed forces said direct hits were recorded at the airfield in the Nizhny Novgorod region and at the Progress center, causing fires at both locations. The Samara plant builds rockets for launching satellites for the Rassvet network. Starlink operates in Ukraine but not in Russia, giving Kyiv an edge in drone operations and battlefield communications.
In the Samara region, local authorities said air defenses repelled a “massive missile attack.” Ivan Noskov, head of the regional capital, said in an online post that “Samara’s industrial infrastructure sustained localised damage” and that emergency services were working at the scene.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson said Saturday that Moscow had asked Washington and Ankara to explain reports of a possible transfer to Kyiv of a “substantial arsenal” of US weapons and ammunition held by Turkey. The spokesperson warned that such a move would cause “serious harm … to our bilateral relations with Washington and Ankara.”
In south-eastern Ukraine, a Russian strike on an apartment block in the town of Marhanets on Saturday killed a three-month-old baby and wounded 11 people, according to Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration. He said drones hit the building.
Russia’s defence ministry reported on Saturday that its drones and missiles had struck Ukrainian logistics centers, energy and transport infrastructure used by the army, and assembly workshops for long-range drones and drone boats over the previous 24 hours.
In a separate development, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin expressing pride in their countries’ strong ties, state media reported. Analysts say North Korea has become a key ally of the Kremlin, sending troops to support Moscow’s war effort in exchange for economic benefits and military technology. Kim said he had a “firm belief” that Russia would thrive and defend its “territorial integrity” under Putin’s “wise leadership.”
Putin’s reply, delivered Friday to mark Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II, praised the “unprecedentedly high level of comprehensive strategic partnership” between the two countries. He wrote that “our states are actively cooperating in all the sectors while making concerted efforts to ensure the regional security and stability.”
The exchange of letters comes after Ukraine accused Moscow this month of firing North Korean ballistic missiles in a strike that killed at least nine people and wounded dozens. Kyiv has also said up to 50,000 North Korean troops are due to deploy to Russia, though it has provided no evidence or timeframe.
The latest attacks and diplomatic exchanges underscore the sustained intensity of the conflict as it continues into day 1,636.
