Images and videos showed large fires across Kyiv, filling the sky with smoke.

A statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense said it targeted “Ukrainian aviation, missile, armoured and shipbuilding industry enterprises in Kiev, command and control posts and locations of the AFU, clusters of weapons and military hardware of the Ukrainian formations as well as infrastructure of military airfields, ammunition and fuel depots.”

It added that all intended targets were successfully hit, also an unlikely assertion given some residential buildings and a hospital were among the buildings hit, suggesting either mechanical issues or successful electronic warfare.

Russian open intelligence sources identified hits in Kyiv against a maintenance and repair facility for Ukrrichflot, a river logistics company, the Darnytsia Locomotive Station, a key rail hub, the Kyiv Armored Vehicle Repair and Engineering base, used for servicing tanks and other armored platforms, the Artyom factory, used for Ukraine’s missile and drone programs, the Boryspil Oil Storage Facility, and another industrial complex.

Kyiv’s administration said most drones and missiles were targeting civilian infrastructure. Two deaths were reported, and about a dozen were wounded.

“Residential buildings and urban infrastructure were damaged,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. “In Odesa, even a maternity hospital became a Russian target. Thirteen people were injured. Tragically, there are fatalities. My condolences to the families.”

“It is vital that the response to this and other similar Russian attacks is not silence from the world, but concrete action,” he added, specifically asking the United States for more support.

The attack came after a record-breaking drone assault on Sunday night, which the Ukrainian Air Force said included 479 Geran drones and 20 missiles of various types. That attack primarily targeted western Ukraine, in contrast to the focus on Kyiv in Monday night’s strike.

One of the main targets of Sunday night’s strike was a military airfield near the border with Poland.

A military airfield close to Ukraine’s western border was the key target, Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said.

“The main strike was targeting… one of the operational air fields. There are some hits,” Ihnat told Ukrainian TV.

Some OSINT analysts estimated Dubno Air Base was hit with five Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, three cruise missiles, and over a dozen Geran drones.

The Russian Ministry of Defense explicitly said the strike was one of its retaliatory strikes over Ukraine’s Operation Spider Web, which used small FPV drones smuggled into Russia to destroy several rare long-range strategic bombers. Other targets included the Ukrainian military industry and logistics, especially those working on attack drones.

By some estimates, Sunday night’s drone attack was the single largest in history.

The attacks reflect Russia’s drastically increased long-range drone and missile capabilities, which have developed significantly since the beginning of the war.

A report from Ukraine’s general staff found that in the three months before last August, Russia launched a total of 1,100 drones. It escalated over the ensuing three months to 818 in August, 1,410 in September, and over 2,000 in October. By May, the number was over 4,000, while 1,451 had been launched over the past week. Russia has averaged 246 drones and missiles launched every day in June.

SBU spokesman Artem Dehtiarenko told the BBC that Russia has modified its Geran drones, the Russian version of Iranian Shahed drones, significantly since their debut in the fall of 2022.

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“Russian engineers have been tasked with increasing their destructive power in order to maximize devastation and civilian casualties,” he said. “In addition, efforts are being made to make the Geran drones less vulnerable to Ukrainian air defences.”

Part of the Geran’s effectiveness lies in its low cost, allowing Russia to produce thousands for constant use.