Massive Russian Air Strikes Hit Ukraine; Ceasefire Prospects Dim

Russia launched one of its heaviest and longest air campaigns against Ukraine since the war began, deploying over 1,500 drones and 56 missiles across Wednesday and Thursday. The attacks resulted in casualties and widespread damage nationwide, with Kyiv being particularly hard hit. President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that 180 properties, including 50 residential buildings, were damaged, while railway infrastructure faced 23 separate strikes. In Kyiv alone, a high-rise building was destroyed, killing at least five people, including a child, with dozens more injured or missing. For the first time since 2022, the southwestern city of Uzhhorod near the Slovak and Hungarian borders was shelled, prompting Slovakia to close its border. Hungary’s Foreign Minister summoned the Russian ambassador to demand an end to the aggression. Additional strikes were reported in Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne, Sumy, Dnipro, Zaporizhia, Kharkiv, and Odessa. The sheer scale of the drone swarms overwhelmed air defenses, with journalists describing continuous explosions throughout the night. These intensified attacks underscore the deteriorating security situation and eliminate any immediate prospects for a ceasefire, as civilian infrastructure and lives remain under severe threat across multiple regions.