Kyiv, June 29, 2025 — Russia unleashed its largest aerial assault on Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian officials said Sunday, underscoring escalating hostilities and dimming prospects for peace in the three-year-old war.
Ukraine’s air force reported Russia fired a staggering 537 aerial weapons, including 477 drones and decoys, and 60 missiles. Of these, 249 were shot down, while another 226 likely veered off course due to electronic jamming, officials said.
Yuriy Ihnat, spokesperson for Ukraine’s air force, called the attack “the most massive air strike” to date, given the combined scale of drones and missiles involved. The bombardment targeted regions across Ukraine, including western areas far from the frontline.
Poland and allied forces scrambled jets to protect Polish airspace amid the barrage, the Polish air force confirmed Sunday.
Kherson regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said one person died in a drone strike. In Cherkasy, six people were injured, including a child, according to regional Governor Ihor Taburets.
In western Ukraine’s Lviv region, a drone strike ignited a major fire at an industrial site in Drohobych and caused power outages in parts of the city.
The wave of attacks came just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Moscow was prepared for renewed peace negotiations in Istanbul. Despite such statements, the war shows no signs of easing, as U.S.-led international efforts to broker peace have yet to produce results. Two recent rounds of Istanbul talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations ended quickly without meaningful progress.
Long-range drone warfare has become a defining feature of the conflict, now entering its fourth year, transforming Ukraine into a testing ground for increasingly advanced weaponry on both sides.
