Russia escalates ferocity in Ukraine with record drone barrage, striking UNESCO heritage site and maternity hospital

Russian forces unleashed one of the largest aerial assaults of the full-scale war on Tuesday, launching nearly 1,000 drones and dozens of missiles in a single day, with strikes hitting civilian targets across Ukraine including a UNESCO World Heritage site in Lviv and a maternity hospital in Ivano-Frankivsk.

The barrage, which continued into the early hours of 25 March (the 1,491st day of the invasion), killed at least eight people and wounded dozens more, according to Ukrainian officials and media reports.

In Lviv, Russian drones damaged the historic city centre, a UNESCO-listed site that includes 17th-century landmarks such as St. Andrew’s Church and the Bernardine monastery complex. Local authorities confirmed strikes on residential buildings and cultural heritage structures in the heart of the western Ukrainian city, injuring at least 22 people in the region. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko described the attack on the UNESCO site as deliberate.

Simultaneously, a drone strike on the centre of Ivano-Frankivsk damaged a maternity hospital, blowing out windows and affecting surrounding buildings. Regional head Svitlana Onyshchuk reported that patients and staff had taken shelter in time, preventing direct casualties at the facility, though two civilians were killed in the city and four others, including a six-year-old child, were wounded.

The scale was unprecedented: Ukrainian air defences downed 121 of 147 drones overnight, yet Russia followed with an unusual daytime wave of more than 550 additional drones. Overall, Moscow deployed roughly 948–1,000 strike UAVs of various types (Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas and others) plus at least seven missiles within 24 hours, targeting energy infrastructure, residential areas and historic sites from Chernihiv to Lviv.

This surge in ferocity coincides with intensified Russian ground assaults, particularly in the northern Kharkiv region, where small infantry groups have repeatedly tried to cross the border since mid-March. The Ukrainian General Staff reported 191 combat clashes on 24 March alone, alongside massive Russian use of guided aerial bombs and artillery.

Analysts and Ukrainian officials suggest the barrage may represent reprisal for recent Ukrainian successes inside Russian territory. In the days leading up to the attack, Kyiv’s forces conducted multiple long-range drone strikes on Russian military and energy infrastructure, including oil facilities and airfields. Ukrainian missile and artillery units also hit key targets behind Russian lines. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly vowed that Ukraine “will certainly respond” to such terror tactics, framing the latest Russian assault as an attempt to terrorise civilians and pressure Kyiv after Ukrainian deep strikes disrupted Moscow’s logistics.

With the outbreak of the war with Iran, the narrative of possible peace negotiations with Russia has completely vanished from Western discourse – although this makes little practical difference, as the Kremlin had only ever pretended to engage in serious dialogue.

Caption: Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian drone attack on the historic center of Lviv, in western Ukraine, 24 March 2026. Russia launched a massive 24-hour aerial assault on Ukraine involving hundreds of drones, leaving over a dozen people injured in the western city of Lviv. EPA/MYKOLA TYS