A drone smashed into the second floor of the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics in central Kyiv at 3am, injuring three people. The blast hit an adjoining 19th-century building and blew out windows in nearby structures, including the National Academy of Arts across the road. Director Ronan Derkach confirmed that medical services were temporarily suspended while a cleanup operation began. Thirty patients were taken to safety as firefighters led dazed individuals from the burning six-storey facility.
System Failures Complicate Defense
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that speed restrictions on SpaceX’s Starshield system made it harder for Ukraine to shoot down enemy drones. He stated that some Russian aerial sorties got through because interceptor systems relying on the US satellite service could not reach necessary speeds. This disruption follows an unexplained slowdown last month, with the White House yet to explain why the service was throttled for a second time. Witness Oleksandr described the scene: "We were asleep when there was this massive boom. We all jumped out of bed straight away." He added that glass covered the floor and people ran about in panic. "If it had hit a little further to the left it would have been much worse," he said, noting the shock wave felt throughout the area.
Diplomatic Pressure and Energy Damage
Russia claimed it shot down nearly 1,200 Ukrainian drones overnight, one of the largest swarms sent by Kyiv. At least four people were killed in the southern region of Volgograd according to Russian reports. Deputy energy minister Artem Nekrasov said strikes on energy infrastructure caused power outages in 12 regions, including Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Rivne, Sumy, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, and Chernihiv. "Energy workers are working at an intensified pace, but new attacks and constant air raid alerts are complicating and delaying repairs," Nekrasov said. Meanwhile, Trump’s emissaries Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met Putin in Moscow before flying to Dublin to brief Zelenskyy. Kremlin negotiators insist Ukraine hand over four provinces and adopt a new security architecture that effectively reverses NATO expansion. France’s president Emmanuel Macron argued Europe must take part since "US support" for Kyiv has ended, stating, "Without Europeans, there is no support for Ukraine."
