Russia pounds Kyiv with missiles and drones after Ukraine's strikes on oil infrastructure

Geoff Bennett:

Welcome to the "News Hour."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today vowed a forceful response after an overnight barrage of Russian missiles and drones killed at least 25 people in Kyiv and wounded many more. Ukraine has also intensified its own campaign, launching waves of drones deep inside Russia and striking military sites and oil refineries. Those attacks have contributed to fuel shortages in parts of Russia.

Yet, despite the escalating strikes on both sides, the front lines have changed little nearly 4.5 years into this war.

Stephanie Sy reports.

Stephanie Sy:

In Kyiv today: the aftermath of another night of Russian aggression. Workers dig through the charred husks of what were once homes carrying out bodies.

Elsewhere, rescue workers rush to recover the living, pinned down in pain by the rubble, the latest devastation a lot even for the battle-worn emergency workers. Neighbors gathered with forlorn faces, the flurry of Russian attacks that occurred overnight among the heaviest and deadliest on the Capitol since the war began, lighting up the early morning sky and carving craters outside apartment blocks.

Nadia, Kyiv, Ukraine, Resident (through translator):

We ran inside and then heard the explosion. We were able to take cover, but everything is destroyed. I don't even know what to say. People are still trapped under the rubble.

Stephanie Sy:

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy today visited the sites, urging an end to the war and calling out U.S. negotiators.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President:

They have to come to see, to understand and to explain to the president and then to answer in a very polite manner, how Steve Witkoff can, to Russia, what they have to do. Quickly, sit, negotiate, stop this war.

Stephanie Sy:

The Kremlin spokesperson today was unmoved.

Dmitry Peskov, Spokesman for Vladimir Putin (through translator): Russia will continue to intensify pressure on the Kyiv regime in order to achieve the goals it has set.

Stephanie Sy:

The attacks in Kyiv come a few days after Ukraine launched its own strikes on Russia, Russian citizens now subjected to the terror of drone warfare in their own territories.

A Ukrainian drone Tuesday struck an apartment building outside Moscow, injuring four and killing a 6-month-old baby, the awful consequence of a Ukrainian attempt to turn tables in the 4-year-long war that's killed tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians. Its long-range drones have hit military installations and oil refineries across the nation.

Ukraine has struck 24 Russian oil refineries over the past month, and Russians are feeling the consequences. Lines for gas stretch for hours, with 55 of Russia's 83 federal districts reporting severe fuel shortages, the gas crunches fueling calls for an end to the war.

Woman (through translator):

I don't know what I can do, of course, I'm not a politician, but I think the end of the war, peace.

Question (through translator):

This is the only way to stop this deficit from developing?

Woman (through translator):

Of course, to come to some kind of agreement somehow. I don't know. This has been going on for a while, after all.

Stephanie Sy:

On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged the fuel shortage for the first time.

Vladimir Putin, Russian President (through translator):

You are well aware that problems persist for both drivers and businesses. Lines at gas stations, unfortunately, also remain.

Stephanie Sy:

But Russia's mounting losses haven't just been economic. Analysts estimate there have been well over one million Russian military casualties, including hundreds of thousands of dead. And with military recruitment down 20 percent from this time last year, Russia, for the first time, is losing more soldiers than it can recruit, according to a February report by Bloomberg.

So deadly are sections of the front line that pro-Russian military bloggers have been circulating a shocking estimate. "The average life expectancy of a soldier on the front line during an assault is 20 to 35 minutes," one post reads. It is not possible to verify that with public data.

At the front, over the past three months, Russia has lost 100 square miles of territory to Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Peskov said Monday that Russia's demands remain the same.

Dmitry Peskov (through translator):

Our position is well-known. In fact, our position has not changed.

Stephanie Sy:

Russia wants Ukraine to cede four regions, cap its military and abandon its bid for NATO. The demands insult Ukraine's sovereignty, so the war grinds on.

In its latest air assault, Russia launched nearly 500 drones and 74 missiles. The terror in Kyiv lasted 11th hours. Ukraine is pleading with allies for more air defenses to defend its capital and its people.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Stephanie Sy.