Ukraine's capital was subject of an hours-long, immense barrage of Russian airstrikes in the overnight and early morning hours, which spanned across seven of Kyiv's ten districts. It may have been the largest single aerial assault operation in over three-years of war.
Other regions of Ukraine also saw drone and missile attacks, including the key southeast port city of Odessa, and in total three people were killed. Ukraine's military said that some 500 projectiles were fired in the fresh early Tuesday attack.
The military said that Ukrainian air defenses intercepted seven Russian missiles and 213 attack drones, and many others were brought down by electronic means.
The Guardian writes of the fresh assault, "The unrelenting night-time raid stretched over five hours and will be seen as part of a continuing response by the Kremlin to Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb, which struck Russia’s nuclear-capable bombers on Monday last week."
Reuters is reporting that despite deaths being low in comparison to the huge numbers of drones and missiles sent against Ukrainian cities, the Russian military struck a maternity ward in Odessa, resulting in casualties.
This is also a response to the record-number of drones sent by Ukraine on Russian territory the night prior, which had involved around 400 UAVs, some of which severely damaged a major electronics production factory deep inside Russia, tied to the military.
Terrifying moment that a suicide drone struck a central city area:
Ukraine's culture minister, Mykola Tochytskyi, indicated that missiles hit the historic heart of the capital city, which damaged the iconic St. Sophia Cathedral, a Unesco world heritage site.
"The enemy struck at the very heart of our identity again," Tochytskyi said in a written statement, calling the cathedral "the soul of all Ukraine."
The clearly intensifying aerial assaults by Russia have meanwhile resulted in more frustration issued by President Volodymyr Zelensky who is calling on President Trump for more "concrete actions" rather than "silence".
Zelensky said Tuesday in a Telegram statement, "Russian strikes with missiles and Shaheds [suicide drones] are louder than the efforts of the United States and others in the world to force Russia to peace. Every night, instead of a ceasefire, there have been massive strikes with Shaheds, cruise missiles and ballistics. Today was one of the largest strikes on Kyiv. Odesa, the Dnipro region and Chernihiv region were also targeted."
He added: "Ordinary houses and urban infrastructure were damaged, and even a maternity hospital in Odesa became a Russian target. Thirteen people were injured. Unfortunately, there are fatalities. My condolences to the relatives."
That's when he called out Washington, despite that Ukraine continues to benefit from US arms and ammunition transfers:
"It is important that the response to this and other similar Russian strikes is not the silence of the world but concrete actions. Actions by America, which has the power to force Russia to peace. The actions of Europe, which has no alternative but to be strong. The actions of others in the world who have called for diplomacy and an end to the war and who have been ignored by Russia. Hard pressure is needed for peace."
As for Europe, the EU is busying preparing its 18th package of anti-Moscow sanctions on Tuesday, including an imposed price cap at which Russian oil can be sold - reportedly from $60 (£44) a barrel to $45. So far these measures have done little to dent Russia's military onslaught, which is now seeing the ground war move west beyond the Donetsk.
Russia and Ukraine have confirmed that Monday saw another successful prisoner swap, involving the return of severely wounded and seriously ill soldiers, which was the second phase of the agreed-to terms of the last Istanbul talks. By the end of it, another 1,000 total POWs are expected to be returned.