Russia attacked Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Friday with the largest number of drones and missiles launched in a single barrage so far in the war, according to Ukraine’s air force, just hours after a phone call between President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
The assault left Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, wrapped in smoke from fires early Friday, though the authorities reported little damage and it was not immediately clear what had burned. Officials said residential buildings had been damaged in five neighborhoods.
Russia has been ramping up drone attacks in recent months with record numbers launched almost weekly. The attacks, as happened Friday, typically combine exploding drones, cruise and ballistic missiles, and decoys intended to confuse or overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin spoke by phone shortly before the air-raid alerts went off in Kyiv. After the call, Mr. Trump told reporters, “I didn’t make any progress with him at all.” There was no clear link between the timing of the air assault and the call, which was at least the sixth between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin this year, given the frequency of the large-scale aerial attacks.
Friday’s attack was also the first large-scale volley from Russia since the Trump administration said this week that it would withhold some of the air defense missiles and other weapons that the United States had promised to the Ukrainian military. Those supplies were expected in the coming weeks or months.
Ukraine relies on U.S.-made Patriot missiles as its only defense against some types of Russian ballistic missiles, although it has an array of other European-provided and domestically produced defenses against cruise missiles and drones.
The Ukrainian Air Force said on Friday that Russia had launched one fast-flying ballistic missile called a Kinzhal, or Dagger. Ukraine can intercept Daggers only with the U.S.-made Patriots. Russia launched six other ballistic missiles and four cruise missiles, according to Ukraine’s air force, which said it had shot down two cruise missiles. It did not report downing any ballistic missiles.
In total, Russia fired 539 drones and 11 missiles overnight. It was the largest number of drones and the largest overall aerial attack of the war, according to air force figures. It was not clear how many of the drones were decoys. The previous record came on June 29, with the air force reporting 537 aerial targets of all types in a single attack.
Many drones on Friday flew through air defenses on the approach to and outskirts of Kyiv and were shot down over the city. Gunfire and explosions rang out through the night, along with the noise of the small piston engines of the drones.
By about 4 a.m. in Kyiv, the authorities had reported damage in five neighborhoods. Nineteen people were injured, according to Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko. In the morning, smoke shrouded the city.
Ever-larger volleys are now weekly occurrences. Russia has invested in and ramped up industrial production of Iranian-designed Shahed drones, which are about 12 feet long, carry a warhead of about 80 pounds, can fly hundreds of miles and are launched at Ukraine in waves of hundreds.
In the phone call with Mr. Trump, Mr. Putin reiterated his insistence on Ukrainian concessions before any cease-fire can be put in place, according to a description of the call by Yuri Ushakov, a Russian foreign policy official. Mr. Trump has called for an immediate, unconditional cease-fire.
Although Ukraine accepted a cease-fire proposal in March, Mr. Trump has resisted imposing additional sanctions on Russia. And the barrage Friday came as Ukrainian officials said they were surprised and shaken by the Trump administration’s decision to pause deliveries of air defense interceptors and other weapons.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said on Thursday that he planned to speak with Mr. Trump about the pause in a phone call on Friday or in the coming days.
Andrew E. Kramer is the Kyiv bureau chief for The Times, who has been covering the war in Ukraine since 2014.
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