TRANSCRIPT
Ukraine has endured the most intense Russian aerial bombardment since the war began over three years ago.
At least 14 people are dead, including three children.
In the town of Korostyshiv [[KOR-os-TISH-eve]] in the Zhytomyr [[zha-toh-MEER]] region, three children from a single family were killed.
Russia launched 367 drones and missiles overnight, a scale not seen before in the war.
A spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force, says it marks the biggest single attack since February of 2022.
Rescue teams arrived at scenes of devastation across multiple regions.
In Zhytomyr, families combed through the debris.
Local resident Ihor Rudakov stood where his sister’s home used to be.
“We heard an explosion. My sister lived here. In the morning, I got a call saying that it looked like her house had been hit. We arrived and saw two buildings completely destroyed. My sister and her husband are in intensive care, and their children died.”
Neighbours are trying to pick up the pieces.
Some homes are completely uninhabitable, windows blown out, roofs torn open.
Liudmyla Oliynyk lives nearby.
She describes the confusion and fear gripping the area.
“There is panic among the neighbours, we don’t understand this. What are we talking about? My son's friends came and helped to take out the rubbish, the windows were taken out and boarded up, the roof was covered with tarpaulin. We will see what we’ll do next.”
The community has gathered at makeshift memorials, laying flowers and teddy bears to honour the children killed.
Among those gathered Iryna Volotovska, a relative of the victims, pleading for the world’s attention.
“Let the world wake up and see. How long can they bomb children? We go to bed and do not know what awaits us in the morning. This is Ukraine. Can't the world see what's happening here?”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to social media platform x to express his frustration, saying the silence from some Western countries was emboldening Russia.
“Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Each such terrorist Russian strike is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia. Russia is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day. The world may go on a weekend break, but the war continues, regardless of weekends and weekdays. This cannot be ignored.”
U-S President Donald Trump says he is not happy with the Russian president.
TRUMP "He's killing a lot of people. And I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time. Always gotten along with him. But he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all. Okay? We're in the middle of talking, and he's shooting rockets into Kyiv and other cities. I don't like it all."
REPORTER: “Mr. President, what do you want to do about that?”
TRUMP: "And I'm surprised. I'm very surprised. We'll see what we're going to do. ... I don't like what Putin is doing. Not even a little bit. He's killing people. And something happened to this guy, and I don't like it.”
Former Trump national security adviser and special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, also weighing in.
In a public statement, he condemned the targeting of civilians stating the indiscriminate killing of women and children at night in their homes is a clear violation of the 1977 Geneva Peace Protocols designed to protect the innocent.
As the bombs fell and fires raged, something else was happening, a major prisoner exchange reaching its final stage, with over 300 Ukrainian soldiers returning home.
At an undisclosed location in Ukraine, families waited by the roadside, hoping their sons, brothers, and husbands were among those released.
One of them was Ihor Ulesov, who embraced his sister moments after stepping off a bus.
Natalia Borovyk describes the moment she realised her brother was coming home.
“When I heard that he was exchanged, there was a terrible scream in the house. My uncle calmed me down, put me in a taxi, and I came here. So what can I say? You know, a moment like that stays with you forever. We waited a very long time. We were worried about all the guys. He wasn't there on Friday, but I was here, I at least greeted them, I stood there until the very end and waited, maybe he would appear after that.”
Their family, like many others, had feared the worst.
Nadiya Ulesova, whose brother was released, prays that others whose loved ones remain in captivity, will one day experience the joy she feels.
“If only all the guys could come back. Everyone who was reported missing. If only they could all come back. God, please make it happen.”
This exchange was the third and final phase of a deal struck in Istanbul earlier this month.
Kyiv and Moscow agreed to swap 1,000 prisoners of war and civilian detainees each, the only tangible outcome from those peace talks so far.
Meanwhile, Russia's Defence Ministry claims it shot down nearly 100 Ukrainian drones targeting eight regions of Russia.
