Russia pummels Kyiv in barrage of drones and missiles as it makes gains in Ukraine

Amna Nawaz:

Russia fired a large-scale barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine early today, damaging apartment buildings in Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv. This comes as Russia has been making incremental gains on the ground in recent weeks, and the diplomatic path for ending the war is nowhere in sight.

Morning in Kyiv revealing the remains of a brutal night, after Russia launched one of its biggest attacks on the capital since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Over 400 Russian drones and 19 missiles pummeled the city, hitting energy facilities and apartment buildings.

Residents rushed out in terror and confusion, clinging to their children. Even amid the horror, resilience. A mother comforts her terrified toddler, telling her: "Everything is all right, my bunny. We just need to run now."

Not everyone escaped. At least six people were killed in the attack and 35 injured.

Anastasia, Kyiv Resident (through translator):

I was terrified, so terrified I didn't know what to do first. Should I rescue myself and my child, or should I run to help others? Because many people were screaming and needed help.

Amna Nawaz:

Anastasia was among the survivors of a Russian strike on her apartment building, now a crumbling husk.

And in Ukraine's southern city of Odesa, another overnight Russian drone strike killed two, with one of the victims' bodies pinned under a car; 11 more were injured. Ukraine is still fighting back, using the American-provided Patriot air defense system, among others, to shoot down 14 Russian missiles last night.

And it's gone on the offensive, launching a long-range Neptune missile and over 200 drones overnight into Russia, hitting military targets across the country, setting ablaze the southwestern port of Novorossiysk, where Russian forces fired back, and the southeastern city of Saratov, striking a key oil refinery used in the war.

On the front line, the fighting has been fierce, with Russia making significant advances in the last two months, capturing over 400 miles of territory, 59 in the last week alone, and continuing its advance on the city of Pokrovsk in the east, where last week dozens of Russian soldiers rolled in on motorcycles as they encircled and seized part of the city.

Ukrainian soldiers fought back fiercely, but Russian forces now control roughly half of the city. The war shows no signs of stopping. And, on Tuesday, First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Sergiy Kyslytsya said negotiations with Russia had stopped, as progress had not been made.

Yesterday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded that Russia will continue its invasion.

Dmitry Peskov, (through translator):

In the absence of the opportunity to continue the conversation further, of course, we will continue the special military operation in every way possible in order to achieve the goals that were formulated by the supreme commander in chief, by the president. The position of the Kyiv regime will deteriorate day by day.

Amna Nawaz:

Also yesterday, Ukraine's new ambassador to the U.S. urged President Trump to provide Tomahawk missiles.

Olga Stefanishyna, Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States: When we're speaking about Tomahawks, I think it's a fair discussion to have, because we have been committed to ending the war, to peace settlement. Even my president after meeting with President Trump, have been public in front of all of his population and all American people that stopping at existing line is an option. So, with all of that, the war is still raging on.

Amna Nawaz:

A request that Trump has recently denied.

Question:

Provide Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles, does that sound like that you're not considering that?

Donald Trump:

No, not really.

Amna Nawaz:

As the war rages on now well into its third year.

For perspective on this, we turn now to retired Colonel Robert Hamilton. He spent much of his army career specializing in the former Soviet Union. He's now founder and president of the Delphi Global Research Center. That's a nonprofit focusing on military developments across Eurasia.

Colonel, welcome, and thanks for joining us.

Let's just begin with your assessment of last night's attack on Kyiv, one of the biggest of the war. Why a Russian attack of that scale at this point in the war?

Col. Robert Hamilton (Ret.):

Well, thank you for the invitation. It's good to be with you.

So, last night's attack, while big, 430 drones and 18 ballistic missiles of different types, is not unprecedented. Russia is able to do this roughly once every week or 10 days, in other words, carry out an attack of this size.

It was focused on Kyiv because Russia, as the winter approaches, has been focusing on two things, one, energy infrastructure to try to turn the lights and turn the heat off in Ukraine over the winter to make it as tough as possible on the civilian population of Ukraine.

And then, secondly, they have been focusing specifically on Kyiv. So, Kyiv has actually been the city, as the capital city and the largest city in Ukraine, it's really been a focus of these Russian air attacks over the last several months. And I think the idea is to turn out the lights specifically in Kyiv and turn off the heat in Kyiv, because the Ukrainian government's there, it's the largest city, and it's the center of gravity of the country.

So I think that's the logic behind these Russian strikes.

Amna Nawaz:

And what do you take away from last night about Ukraine's ability to continue to defend itself?

Col. Robert Hamilton (Ret.):

Yes, so Ukraine's defense against the air attack — so the war is unfolding in domains, right? It unfolds on the ground, and, there, we're focused on Pokrovsk.

It unfolds in the air. It unfolds at sea. The air domain, which is what we're talking about with the Russian strikes last night, Ukraine has a good capability to destroy drones and missiles. They routinely destroy the majority of what Russia launches.

But, first of all, when you launch over 400 drones, even if you destroy the vast majority of them, dozens will still get through. So it's problematic. But Ukraine also has an offensive air capability, which they demonstrated last night by hitting a Russian oil export terminal in Novorossiysk, which is one of the largest export terminals Russia has.

It accounts for about 2 percent of global oil trade. So hitting Novorossiysk was a strategic strike on the Russian economy. The difference here is, Ukraine is hitting military targets or targets that are directly related to Russia's ability to make war. Russia is hitting things like apartment buildings, markets, hospitals, and schools, essentially just trying to terrorize the Ukrainian population.

Amna Nawaz:

What about manpower when it comes to Ukrainian forces? I recall being there last year, asking President Zelenskyy about that issue. They were just lowering the draft age then from 27 to 25. Is that manpower an issue and is it showing up on the battlefield?

Col. Robert Hamilton (Ret.):

It's the biggest issue. Manpower is Ukraine's biggest issue.

And, increasingly, both Ukrainians and foreign analysts who are looking at the war are coming to the conclusion that Ukraine will probably have to lower the involuntary draft age below 25. As you mentioned, it was 27 at the start of the war, lowered to 25. It probably needs to go lower because, look, there are places on the front lines around Pokrovsk where 1,000 yards of frontage is covered by four to seven Ukrainian soldiers.

Just for perspective and comparison, by U.S. Army doctrine, a U.S. infantry company, which is about 150 people, would normally be responsible for 500 to 800 meters of frontage. And so, in Ukraine, in places along the line, you have got four to seven people responsible for more frontage than an entire U.S. infantry company would normally be responsible for.

It's a huge problem. Ukraine has been able to make up for some of it by the use of drones and artillery, especially drones, to cover parts of the front line where their manpower is very thin. But as the winter sets in, the weather gets worse, the clouds roll in, it's rainy, it's foggy, drones are less effective.

And that's part of the reason the Russians were able to infiltrate Ukrainian lines around Pokrovsk.

Amna Nawaz:

Colonel, I have got less than a minute left, but I have to ask you.

We showed that video of Russian forces rolling into Pokrovsk on motorcycles in kind of a ragtag fashion. What do you take away from that, what it says about the Russian forces, and also why this city and the strategic gains Russia has made?

Col. Robert Hamilton (Ret.):

Yes, I wouldn't call them strategic. I would call them operational, right? And maybe we're splitting hairs here.

But, in military, we talk about tactical, operational and strategic levels of war and effects. It's more than tactical, because Pokrovsk is astride — it sits astride a major road and a major rail line. And so it is operationally significant.

But the Ukrainians, as long as they don't get cut off, as long as their pocket in Pokrovsk is not surrounded and they're able to withdraw in good order, they will preserve the integrity of their lines. The Russians have not shown an ability to exploit any of these breakthroughs they make. And these breakthroughs are really infiltrations, right?

The Ukrainian lines are not being severed or broken. Russians are getting two, three, four people behind the lines, and then following that up with larger forces, as you saw in the video with the motorcycles, the dune buggies, and the four-wheelers, the other vehicles.

But both sides are doing that, because large military vehicles don't survive long on this battlefield.

Amna Nawaz:

That is retired Colonel Robert Hamilton joining us tonight.

Colonel, thank you so much for your time and insight.

Col. Robert Hamilton (Ret.):

Thank you.