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  • Large Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv kills 4 and wounds at least 10

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    Russia unleashed a barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine overnight into Sunday, killing at least four people, with the capital city of Kyiv suffering the heaviest assault.This is the first major bombardment since an air attack on Kyiv left at least 21 people dead last month.Kyiv bears the brunt of the attackTymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Administration, confirmed Sunday’s casualties via Telegram and said 10 others were wounded in the attack that targeted civilian areas across the city. A 12-year-old girl was among the dead. Thick black smoke could be seen rising from a blast near the city center.“The Russians have restarted the child death counter,” Tkachenko wrote on Telegram.Russia fired a total of 595 exploding drones and decoys and 48 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said Sunday. Of those, air defenses shot down or jammed 566 drones and 45 missiles.Besides Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the bombardment targeted the regions of Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, and Odesa. Zelenskyy wrote on X that at least 40 people were wounded across the country. Later, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry stated the number of the wounded rose to 70, with over a hundred civilian objects damaged.Zaporizhzhia’s regional head, Ivan Fedorov, said three children were among the 27 wounded in the region, adding that over two dozen buildings were damaged in the capital that bears the same name.“This vile attack came virtually (at) the close of UN General Assembly week, and this is exactly how Russia declares its true position. Moscow wants to keep fighting and killing, and it deserves the toughest pressure from the world,” Zelenskyy wrote.Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insisted to world leaders Saturday that his nation doesn’t intend to attack Europe but will mount a “decisive response” to any aggression.Residents shakenThe strikes that began overnight and continued after dawn on Sunday also targeted residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, a medical facility and a kindergarten, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who also said damage was reported at more than 20 locations across the capital.At Kyiv’s central train station, passengers arrived to the crackle of anti-aircraft gunfire and the low buzz of attack drones. Mostly women, they waited quietly in a platform underpass until the air raid alert ended. Parents checked the news on their phones while children played online games.“The sky has turned black again,” said one woman at the station, who gave only her first name, Erika. “It’s happening a lot.”Ilona Kovalenko, a 38-year-old resident of a five-story building struck in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district, told The Associated Press she woke up because of the explosion, which shattered windows.“A neighbor kept knocking on our door. She was completely covered in blood and shouting, ‘help, save my daughter,’” said Kovalenko, who fled the building with her grandmother after the strike.Oleksandra, the neighbor’s daughter, was the 12-year-old killed in the attack.“Sadly, she died on the spot,” Kovalenko said. “We are in shock, to be honest.”Another multi-story residential building was heavily damaged by the attack. Emergency services personnel used power saws to clear the debris. Piles of glass littered nearby sidewalks as building residents, some looking shaken, sat on benches.Russian officials did not immediately comment on the attacks.Polish military responses triggeredThe assault also triggered military responses in neighboring Poland, where fighter jets were deployed early Sunday morning as Russia struck targets in western Ukraine, according to the Polish armed forces.Polish military officials characterized these defensive measures as “preventative.”International concerns have mounted recently that the fighting could spread beyond Ukraine’s borders as European countries rebuked Russia for what they said were provocations. The incidents have included Russian drones landing on Polish soil and Russian fighter aircraft entering Estonian airspace.Russia denied its planes entered Estonian airspace and said none of its drones targeted Poland.The latest bombardment follows President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s announcement Saturday of what he called a “mega deal” for weapons purchases from the United States. The $90 billion package includes both the major arms agreement and a separate “drone deal” for Ukrainian-made drones that the U.S. will purchase directly.Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 41 Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday. Morton reported from London.

    KYIV —

    Russia unleashed a barrage of drones and missiles on Ukraine overnight into Sunday, killing at least four people, with the capital city of Kyiv suffering the heaviest assault.

    This is the first major bombardment since an air attack on Kyiv left at least 21 people dead last month.

    Kyiv bears the brunt of the attack

    Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Administration, confirmed Sunday’s casualties via Telegram and said 10 others were wounded in the attack that targeted civilian areas across the city. A 12-year-old girl was among the dead. Thick black smoke could be seen rising from a blast near the city center.

    “The Russians have restarted the child death counter,” Tkachenko wrote on Telegram.

    Russia fired a total of 595 exploding drones and decoys and 48 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said Sunday. Of those, air defenses shot down or jammed 566 drones and 45 missiles.

    Besides Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the bombardment targeted the regions of Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, and Odesa. Zelenskyy wrote on X that at least 40 people were wounded across the country. Later, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry stated the number of the wounded rose to 70, with over a hundred civilian objects damaged.

    Zaporizhzhia’s regional head, Ivan Fedorov, said three children were among the 27 wounded in the region, adding that over two dozen buildings were damaged in the capital that bears the same name.

    “This vile attack came virtually (at) the close of UN General Assembly week, and this is exactly how Russia declares its true position. Moscow wants to keep fighting and killing, and it deserves the toughest pressure from the world,” Zelenskyy wrote.

    Speaking at the U.N. General Assembly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov insisted to world leaders Saturday that his nation doesn’t intend to attack Europe but will mount a “decisive response” to any aggression.

    Residents shaken

    The strikes that began overnight and continued after dawn on Sunday also targeted residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, a medical facility and a kindergarten, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, who also said damage was reported at more than 20 locations across the capital.

    At Kyiv’s central train station, passengers arrived to the crackle of anti-aircraft gunfire and the low buzz of attack drones. Mostly women, they waited quietly in a platform underpass until the air raid alert ended. Parents checked the news on their phones while children played online games.

    “The sky has turned black again,” said one woman at the station, who gave only her first name, Erika. “It’s happening a lot.”

    Ilona Kovalenko, a 38-year-old resident of a five-story building struck in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district, told The Associated Press she woke up because of the explosion, which shattered windows.

    “A neighbor kept knocking on our door. She was completely covered in blood and shouting, ‘help, save my daughter,’” said Kovalenko, who fled the building with her grandmother after the strike.

    Oleksandra, the neighbor’s daughter, was the 12-year-old killed in the attack.

    “Sadly, she died on the spot,” Kovalenko said. “We are in shock, to be honest.”

    Another multi-story residential building was heavily damaged by the attack. Emergency services personnel used power saws to clear the debris. Piles of glass littered nearby sidewalks as building residents, some looking shaken, sat on benches.

    Russian officials did not immediately comment on the attacks.

    Polish military responses triggered

    The assault also triggered military responses in neighboring Poland, where fighter jets were deployed early Sunday morning as Russia struck targets in western Ukraine, according to the Polish armed forces.

    Polish military officials characterized these defensive measures as “preventative.”

    International concerns have mounted recently that the fighting could spread beyond Ukraine’s borders as European countries rebuked Russia for what they said were provocations. The incidents have included Russian drones landing on Polish soil and Russian fighter aircraft entering Estonian airspace.

    Russia denied its planes entered Estonian airspace and said none of its drones targeted Poland.

    The latest bombardment follows President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s announcement Saturday of what he called a “mega deal” for weapons purchases from the United States. The $90 billion package includes both the major arms agreement and a separate “drone deal” for Ukrainian-made drones that the U.S. will purchase directly.

    Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 41 Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday.

    Morton reported from London.


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  • Column: What came of Trump’s Putin summit? Nothing good

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    Remember the vaunted Trump-Putin summit? It was just a month ago this week, but Americans could be excused for having forgotten. Nothing good has come of it. The cringy Alaska photo-op for the American and Russian presidents certainly didn’t yield President Trump’s long-promised deal to end Vladimir Putin’s criminal war on Ukraine.

    In fact, as each day since has shown, worse than nothing has come from that failed bro-fest. Which begs renewed attention to it. Putin arrived to Trump’s literal red-carpet welcome and left with an apparent if unstated license — as then-candidate Trump said last year of the Russians — “to do whatever the hell they want.”

    And they have.

    On Tuesday last week, a Russian bomb hit a group of Ukrainian retirees collecting their pension checks, killing two dozen and injuring more — another day’s civilian toll in Putin’s ongoing offensive, the harshest in more than three years of war and one that’s struck U.S. and European installations. The next day, stunningly, about 20 Russian drones flew over next-door Poland, a NATO ally, forcing the alliance to scramble jets to shoot down threats over its territory for the first time in NATO history.

    And mostly we’ve heard bupkis from Trump — except to keep blaming the war on his predecessor President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, never Putin. Even servile Senate Republicans have roused themselves to press for punishing sanctions against Russia, but Trump withholds his blessing.

    You’d think the self-proclaimed “president of peace” would at least be riled that Putin’s impunity since Alaska is a stick in the eye to Trump’s wife as well. Melania Trump wrote Putin a letter — which Trump delivered at their summit — urging him to protect children. “It was very well received,” Trump boasted later.

    Oh, yeah? Putin’s public response to the first lady has been missiles and drones that have killed and injured Ukrainian children in their beds and at their schools. Meanwhile, nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children remain kidnapped in Russia, a war crime.

    What a tragic irony that the president who promised he’d end the Ukraine war on “day one,” and who incessantly contends Russia never would have invaded had he, Putin’s friend, been president in 2022, now presides over Russia’s escalation of the war and its unprecedented incursion into NATO territory. And Trump acts all but impotent.

    For three years until his return to power, Russia did not test the United States’ pledge to “defend every inch” of NATO territory. Now it has. And at the news of the Poland intrusion, Trump, the supposed leader of the free world, showed himself to be little more than an internet troll.

    “What’s with Russia violating Poland’s airspace with drones? Here we go!” was his online outburst long hours after the news last Wednesday. The next day he suggested the drones’ flight into Poland “could have been a mistake,” provoking rebuttals from Polish leaders and NATO allies. And when NATO’s European members last Friday reinforced the alliance’s eastern flank defenses against Russia, they announced no U.S. contributions.

    Much was made last spring of Trump’s nickname among some Wall Street types for his on-again, off-again tariffs: “TACO,” for Trump Always Chickens Out. But that moniker better describes Trump’s Russia stance: He repeatedly sets up a face-off against Putin, and invariably face-plants.

    For weeks ahead of the August summit, Trump threatened “extreme consequences” if Russia didn’t agree to a cease-fire. Then, as quickly as U.S. soldiers rolled out the red carpet for Putin, Trump rolled up his cease-fire talk. After hours under Putin’s sway, he came away talking not about what Russia would do for peace but what territorial concessions Ukraine would make. And a month later, he’s still resisting Congress’ proposed sanctions against Russia, even as he’s levied big tariffs on India and China in part as punishment for buying Russian oil.

    Nothing Trump claimed would happen as a consequence of his summitry has come to pass. Not a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, nor a trilateral follow-up with the Nobel-coveting Trump joining as mediating peacemaker. Putin has had high-level meetings since the Alaska summit, but they’ve been with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un — all drawn closer in solidarity against the United States’ hegemony.

    Trump’s embarrassingly weak response to Russia’s aggression, together with his passivity in the face of Israel’s defiance in renewing its offensive in starving Gaza, recently prompted a New York Times analysis declaring “the bystander phase of the Trump presidency.” A Wall Street Journal headline said Trump is “sidelining himself” in foreign policy. On Wednesday, New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman wrote that, just as Trump sought to rename the Department of Defense to be the Department of War, the White House should be called “Waffle House.” (Or Taco Bell?) The criticisms are international: Poland’s deputy prime minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, said in a video last week that Putin, by his hostilities, is “mocking” Trump’s peace talk.

    There’s mockery indeed in Moscow, where politicians and state-run media continue to celebrate Putin as the summit winner. Russians weren’t quaking in their valenki when Trump told “Fox & Friends” hosts on Friday that his patience with Russia is “running out fast.” Alexei Zhuravlyov, a leader of the Russian State Duma, said Trump’s “normal state” is “either waiting to talk to Putin, talking to Putin or explaining how well he talked to Putin.” Pundit Mikhail Rostovsky dismissed Trump’s fussing and threats as “a new ‘Groundhog Day.’”

    “The Kremlin believes that Russia is slowly but surely achieving its goals in Ukraine,” Rostovsky added. “Therefore Moscow does not intend to stop there.”

    Putin has said as much himself. Only Trump doesn’t seem to hear him. Or doesn’t want to.

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  • Poland says it shot down Russian drones that violated its airspace during strikes on Ukraine

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    Poland said early Wednesday that multiple Russian drones entered and were shot down over its territory with help from NATO allies, describing the incident as an “act of aggression” carried out during a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine.Several European leaders said they believed Russia was intentionally escalating the war, and NATO was discussing the incident in a meeting. It came three days after Russia’s largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began, an attack that for the first time hit a key government building in Kyiv.“Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “Last night in Poland we saw the most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.”Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on social media that Polish airspace was violated by multiple Russian drones. “Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down,” Tusk said.Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X that more than 10 objects crossed into Polish air space, but he did not specify an exact number. He thanked NATO Air Command and The Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force for supporting the action with F-35 fighter jets.Polish airspace has been violated multiple times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but there has been nothing on this scale either in Poland or in any other Western nation along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union.Drones rattle Baltic NATO membersLeaders in the strategically located Baltic states of Lithuanian, Latvia and Estonia — the NATO members that are most nervous about Russian aggression — expressed deep concerns.“Russia is deliberately expanding its aggression, posing an ever-growing threat to Europe,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda wrote on X. Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said that the overnight attacks on Ukraine and violations of Polish airspace were “yet another stark reminder that Russia is not just a threat to Ukraine, but to all of Europe and NATO.”Bernard Blaszczuk, mayor of the village of Wyryki in Lublin region, told TVP Info that a house was hit by “either a missile or a drone, we don’t know yet.” He said people were inside the building but nobody was hurt.The Polish armed forces said Wednesday morning that a search for possible crash sites is ongoing and urged people not to approach, touch or move any objects they see, warning that they may pose a threat and could contain hazardous material.Warsaw’s Chopin Airport suspended flights for several hours, citing the closure of airspace due to military operations.Russian objects have entered Polish airspace beforePoland has complained about Russian objects entering its airspace during attacks on Ukraine before.In August, Poland’s defense minister said that a flying object that crashed and exploded in a cornfield in eastern Poland was identified as a Russian drone, and called it a provocation by Russia.In March, Poland scrambled jets after a Russian missile briefly passed through Polish air space on its way to a target in western Ukraine, and in 2022, a missile that was likely fired by Ukraine to intercept a Russian attack landed in Poland, killing two people.NATO members vow supportNATO said its air defenses supported Poland, and chief spokesperson Allison Hart said the military organization’s 32 national envoys will discuss the matter at a pre-planned meeting.Col. Martin O’Donnell, NATO’s Supreme Allied Powers Europe, said: “This is the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace.”Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof confirmed in a message on X that Dutch F-35 fighter jets stationed in Poland under NATO provided support to the Polish air force overnight.“Let me be clear: the violation of Polish airspace last night by Russian drones is unacceptable. It is further proof that the Russian war of aggression poses a threat to European security,” Schoof said in the Dutch language message on X.German Patriot defense systems in Poland were also placed “on alert,” and an Italian airborne early warning plane and an aerial refueler from NATO’s Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft fleet were launched, O’Donnell said.NATO, he said, “is committed to defending every kilometer of NATO territory, including our airspace.”Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a message on Telegram that the deployment of European aircraft to intercept the drones was an “important precedent.”Russia must know the response to escalation “will be a clear and strong reaction from all partners,” Zelenskyy said.Russian attacks hit central and western UkraineUkraine’s Air Force says Russia fired 415 strike and decoy drones, as well as 42 cruise missiles and one ballistic missiles overnight.Ukrainian air defenses intercepted or jammed 386 drones and 27 cruise missiles, according to the report.“At least eight enemy UAVs crossed Ukraine’s state border in the direction of the Republic of Poland,” the Air Force message said.Russian drones injured three people in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, its head Serhii Tiurin wrote on Telegram early Wednesday morning. He said a sewing factory was destroyed, a gas station and vehicles were damaged, and windows in several houses were blown out.One person was killed and one injured in Zhytomyr region overnight, regional administration head Vitalii Bunechko wrote on Telegram, while homes and businesses suffered damage.In Vinnytsia region, Russian drones damaged “civilian and industrial infrastructure,” according to regional head Natalia Zabolotna. Nearly 30 residential buildings were damaged and one person was injured.In Cherkasy region, several houses and a power grid were damaged in a Russian attack. In Zolotonosha district, a shock wave destroyed a barn killing two cows, regional head Ihor Taburets wrote on Telegram.The Russian Defense Ministry said in its morning report on Wednesday that it had destroyed 122 Ukrainian drones over various Russian regions overnight, including over the illegally annexed Crimea and areas of the Black Sea.___Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. AP writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

    WARSAW, Poland —

    Poland said early Wednesday that multiple Russian drones entered and were shot down over its territory with help from NATO allies, describing the incident as an “act of aggression” carried out during a wave of Russian strikes on Ukraine.

    Several European leaders said they believed Russia was intentionally escalating the war, and NATO was discussing the incident in a meeting. It came three days after Russia’s largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began, an attack that for the first time hit a key government building in Kyiv.

    “Russia’s war is escalating, not ending,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “Last night in Poland we saw the most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.”

    Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on social media that Polish airspace was violated by multiple Russian drones. “Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down,” Tusk said.

    Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote on X that more than 10 objects crossed into Polish air space, but he did not specify an exact number. He thanked NATO Air Command and The Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force for supporting the action with F-35 fighter jets.

    Polish airspace has been violated multiple times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but there has been nothing on this scale either in Poland or in any other Western nation along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union.

    Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland via AP

    Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk holds an extraordinary government meeting at the chancellery, with military and emergency services officials, following violations of Polish airspace during a Russian attack, in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025.

    Drones rattle Baltic NATO members

    Leaders in the strategically located Baltic states of Lithuanian, Latvia and Estonia — the NATO members that are most nervous about Russian aggression — expressed deep concerns.

    “Russia is deliberately expanding its aggression, posing an ever-growing threat to Europe,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda wrote on X. Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said that the overnight attacks on Ukraine and violations of Polish airspace were “yet another stark reminder that Russia is not just a threat to Ukraine, but to all of Europe and NATO.”

    Bernard Blaszczuk, mayor of the village of Wyryki in Lublin region, told TVP Info that a house was hit by “either a missile or a drone, we don’t know yet.” He said people were inside the building but nobody was hurt.

    The Polish armed forces said Wednesday morning that a search for possible crash sites is ongoing and urged people not to approach, touch or move any objects they see, warning that they may pose a threat and could contain hazardous material.

    Warsaw’s Chopin Airport suspended flights for several hours, citing the closure of airspace due to military operations.

    Russian objects have entered Polish airspace before

    Poland has complained about Russian objects entering its airspace during attacks on Ukraine before.

    In August, Poland’s defense minister said that a flying object that crashed and exploded in a cornfield in eastern Poland was identified as a Russian drone, and called it a provocation by Russia.

    In March, Poland scrambled jets after a Russian missile briefly passed through Polish air space on its way to a target in western Ukraine, and in 2022, a missile that was likely fired by Ukraine to intercept a Russian attack landed in Poland, killing two people.

    NATO members vow support

    NATO said its air defenses supported Poland, and chief spokesperson Allison Hart said the military organization’s 32 national envoys will discuss the matter at a pre-planned meeting.

    Col. Martin O’Donnell, NATO’s Supreme Allied Powers Europe, said: “This is the first time NATO planes have engaged potential threats in Allied airspace.”

    Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof confirmed in a message on X that Dutch F-35 fighter jets stationed in Poland under NATO provided support to the Polish air force overnight.

    “Let me be clear: the violation of Polish airspace last night by Russian drones is unacceptable. It is further proof that the Russian war of aggression poses a threat to European security,” Schoof said in the Dutch language message on X.

    German Patriot defense systems in Poland were also placed “on alert,” and an Italian airborne early warning plane and an aerial refueler from NATO’s Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft fleet were launched, O’Donnell said.

    NATO, he said, “is committed to defending every kilometer of NATO territory, including our airspace.”

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a message on Telegram that the deployment of European aircraft to intercept the drones was an “important precedent.”

    Russia must know the response to escalation “will be a clear and strong reaction from all partners,” Zelenskyy said.

    Russian attacks hit central and western Ukraine

    Ukraine’s Air Force says Russia fired 415 strike and decoy drones, as well as 42 cruise missiles and one ballistic missiles overnight.

    Ukrainian air defenses intercepted or jammed 386 drones and 27 cruise missiles, according to the report.

    “At least eight enemy UAVs crossed Ukraine’s state border in the direction of the Republic of Poland,” the Air Force message said.

    Russian drones injured three people in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, its head Serhii Tiurin wrote on Telegram early Wednesday morning. He said a sewing factory was destroyed, a gas station and vehicles were damaged, and windows in several houses were blown out.

    One person was killed and one injured in Zhytomyr region overnight, regional administration head Vitalii Bunechko wrote on Telegram, while homes and businesses suffered damage.

    In Vinnytsia region, Russian drones damaged “civilian and industrial infrastructure,” according to regional head Natalia Zabolotna. Nearly 30 residential buildings were damaged and one person was injured.

    In Cherkasy region, several houses and a power grid were damaged in a Russian attack. In Zolotonosha district, a shock wave destroyed a barn killing two cows, regional head Ihor Taburets wrote on Telegram.

    The Russian Defense Ministry said in its morning report on Wednesday that it had destroyed 122 Ukrainian drones over various Russian regions overnight, including over the illegally annexed Crimea and areas of the Black Sea.

    ___

    Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. AP writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

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