Kyiv woke up in smoke, fire, and sirens - again. Overnight, Russia carried out a massive combined attack on the Ukrainian capital, striking with over 25 ballistic missiles, at least seven hypersonic „Zircon" missiles, around 28 cruise missiles, and more than 480 drones. Residents report heavy, acrid smoke over the city after the explosions and fires.

Damage was recorded at over 40 locations across every part of Kyiv - a sign this wasn't about isolated strikes, but a broadly coordinated operation. A drone strike hit a car park near the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, one of the most important religious complexes, and the fire spread towards the roof of the Dormition Cathedral. When the target is no longer just an industrial zone but also historic shrines, the message is clear: nothing is spared.

Militarily, this type of attack is especially dangerous because of its combined approach. Ballistic missiles leave minimal time to react, the hypersonic „Zircons" are far harder to intercept than slower cruise missiles, and the massive waves of drones force Ukrainian air defence to burn through ammunition and stay on constant alert for hours, with no clear pause between waves.

This is the attack Putin „had long been announcing" - revenge dressed up as missiles. The Balkans know all too well what it means for a city to wake up under bombs; our grandparents remember it, and some of us lived through it ourselves in the nineties. The question hanging over Europe isn't whether Ukraine will survive another night, but how long the world will keep treating this as distant news, rather than as something that may one day come closer than we think.