KYIV — Russian ballistic missiles rained down on Kyiv early Saturday, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 30 — just hours after a major protest in support of the country’s ousted defense minister, Mykhailo Fedorov.
“A hell of a night,” Ukrainian Foreign Minster Andrii Sybiha wrote on X.
It followed another ballistic assault early Thursday that largely bombarded areas in western Ukraine, which are targeted much less frequently, and resulted in a Russian missile landing in Poland.
The Russian missile struck a rural area and did not cause any injuries. But the incident raised fresh concerns about the risk of Russia coming into direct confrontation with NATO, four years into the war in Ukraine.
In Saturday’s attack, Russian forces fired nearly 200 attack drones and 35 missiles, including 27 ballistic missiles, primarily at Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on social media.
“Only one ballistic missile was intercepted, simply because there are no interceptors,” Zelensky wrote.
U.S.-manufactured Patriot air-defense systems are Ukraine’s only hope to counter Russian ballistic missile attacks, which the Kremlin has significantly increased in recent months. The system’s interceptor missiles are in drastic short supply, however, as the number, already limited, has been greatly depleted by the Iran war.
Zelensky said it was “critical” that Ukraine’s partners, which Kyiv hopes will supply the needed missiles, “hear that these capabilities are needed not somewhere in stockpiles for hypothetical scenarios, but here and now, to contain and stop the Russian war in Ukraine.”
“Every night without them results in more casualties,” Zelensky wrote.
Zelensky repeated appeals to U.S. President Donald Trump during a White House meeting on Tuesday, offering in return Ukraine’s anti-drone technology, and extensive experience in destroying Russian and Iranian drones.
Trump earlier said the U.S. would give Ukraine licenses to produce Patriots, but on Friday he told the Financial Times he was “not sure” whether Washington would follow through. “We’re looking at it,” he said during a telephone interview.
Saturday’s strikes on Kyiv also damaged the Lithuanian Embassy, after a missile “exploded just steps away,” but no one was injured, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda wrote on X.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement Saturday that Moscow “carried out a massive strike with land and sea-based precision weapons” on military enterprises and logistics centers, including facilities producing radio electronic components for Ukraine’s long-range attack drones.
Meanwhile, more than two weeks after Zelensky abruptly fired Fedorov, crowds continue to gather every evening in Ivan Franko Square in central Kyiv to loudly demand his reinstatement.
Friday evening witnessed the biggest demonstration so far. Protesters marched through Kyiv’s central streets to the square, which is just a few hundred yards from Zelensky’s offices that are perched on a hill above. About 6,000 demonstrators took part, local media reported.
As the crowd flowed down Kyiv’s main Khreshchatyk Street, they shouted “bring him back” and waved placards. One read: “Shoot at the enemy, and not [yourself] in the foot.”
The square is the same location where thousands protested almost exactly a year ago against Zelensky’s attempt to limit the powers of Ukraine’s main anti-corruption bodies — a decision that he reversed in the face of the public outcry.
These latest protests appear to be made up predominantly of those in their 20s and 30s — close in age to Fedorov, 35, the youngest defense minister in Ukraine’s history.
Ukrainians of all ages were dismayed by Fedorov’s ouster. An anti-corruption reformer and architect of the country’s highly effective drone program, he had developed a strong following despite serving only six months.
Fedorov said he was fired because of changes he had begun to introduce in the country’s military procurement system. Critics have said the system lacks transparency and is a possible source of corruption.
“The reason was related to procurements, to tenders, to the fact that we began to rebuild processes in this direction – this caused great dissatisfaction in many people who began to constantly influence and sow negativity not only around the president, but also in the entire media space,” Fedorov told the Ukrainian Truth news site on Wednesday.
The nightly demonstrations often have a carnivallike atmosphere, with protesters distributing handmade cardboard signs and handing out crepes with sweet fillings and other refreshments.
Yana Kotlynska, 21, an actor at the Ivan Franko Theatre on the edge of the square, said she had been at the protests nearly every evening. Fedorov was “a man who knows what he’s doing” and “can lead Ukraine to a good future,” she said.
“We have no right to lose this person like that,” Kotlynska said, as she and her colleague Diana Chorna, 22, handed out fresh waffles from a cardboard box.
The demonstrations have persisted despite the fact that Zelensky gave into one of the protesters’ main demands. Last week, he fired the commander of Ukraine’s armed forces, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, and replaced him with Mykhailo Drapatyi, who previously headed the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Syrsky’s dismissal was a good start, removing a commander who was seen to be an obstacle to change, protesters said. But they vowed to continue demonstrations every evening until Fedorov returned as defense minister.
“I will keep protesting for as long as it takes — what has happened so far is not enough,” said Viktoriia Moskofidi, 26, the co-founder of a Kyiv art studio.
“Otherwise, it will only deepen the crisis,” she said. “We will simply waste more time dealing with this, instead of focusing on the war.”
Natalia Abbakumova in Riga, Latvia, contributed to this report.
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