A pall of acrid smoke hung over Kyiv on Friday morning following a night of intensive Russian strikes – the hours of darkness once again punctuated by the staccato of air defence guns, buzz of drones and large explosions. Almost every district in the capital sustained damage, Ukrainian authorities said, after a long night of bombardment in which Ukraine said Russia had fired a record 550 drones and 11 missiles. The strikes came hours after a phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, after which the US president said he was “disappointed” that Putin was not ready to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.A woman was killed in Russia following Ukrainian drone attacks, officials said.The acting governor of the southern Rostov region said she had been killed in a strike on village not far from the Ukrainian border.Russia’s overnight air strikes broke another record, Ukraine’s air force said, with 72 of the 550 drones penetrating air defences – up from a previous record of 537 launched last Saturday night.Air raid alerts sounded for more than eight hours as several waves of attacks struck Kyiv, the “main target of the strikes”, the air force said on the messaging app Telegram.Ukraine’s foreign minister condemned “one of the worst” nights in the capital and said “Moscow must be slapped with the toughest sanctions without delay”.”Absolutely horrible and sleepless night in Kyiv. One of the worst so far,” wrote Andrii Sybiha on X.Noting that it came directly after Putin’s call with Trump, Sybiha added that “[Putin] does it on purpose” and “clearly shows his disregard for the United States and everyone who has called for an end to the war”.Footage shared on social …
