India, July 7 -- Russia launched a punishing, multi-tiered aerial bombardment against Kyiv and its outer suburbs, killing at least 24 people and destroying a sequence of residential high-rises in an explicit show of force on the eve of a critical NATO summit.

The assault, which marked the second catastrophic strike on the Ukrainian capital in less than a week, began shortly after 1:00 a.m. and lasted for several hours as air raid sirens echoed across the country. According to the Ukrainian Air Force and local emergency services, Russia deployed a massive swarm of 351 attack and decoy drones alongside 68 missiles, including 23 heavy ballistic missiles and six Zircon hypersonic anti-ship rounds.

While Ukrainian anti-aircraft units success...