Rescue workers extinguish a fire following a missile and drone strike amid the conflict in Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 16, 2026. (Photo by Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)NurPhoto via Getty ImagesDispatches from Ukraine. Day 1,514.​Russia’s Bombardment, Ramstein SummitOn April 16, ​Russia pounded Ukraine with one of the most intense and protracted aerial attacks in recent months, hitting major Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, with missiles and drones. The Ukrainian government reported at least 18 people killed and dozens more civilians injured in the strike, which came less than a week after the short-lived Kremlin-announced Easter truce.​In Kyiv, four people were killed, including a 12-year-old boy, and some 45 residents were injured. City officials said debris from intercepted missiles fell across several districts, causing fires and damage to residential areas. One of the rescue teams responding to an earlier attack was injured in a subsequent strike.​In Odesa, a southern port city on the shores of the Black Sea, home to one of the most important hubs for Ukrainian exports, at least eight people were killed and more than a dozen were injured.In central Dnipro, three people died, and over 30 people were wounded, many of whom received shrapnel wounds.In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, Russian drones damaged private homes and a gas pipeline.MORE FOR YOU​The attack involved a mix of ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as hundreds of drones. Ukraine's Air Force reported that Russia launched more than 700 aerial projectiles, of which it shot down 667. Importantly, Ukraine intercepted almost all cruise missiles (23 out of 25 launched), but less than a third of ballistic missiles, as the country faces a chronic shortage of air-defense missiles, particularly for advanced Western systems such as Patriot.​The last barrage of comparable scale came overnight on April 3, when Russia used 579 targets. In April as a whole, the Kremlin rained down circa 4,480 drones and missiles on Ukraine.Patriot Systems Needed. ​On April 15, on the eve of the attack, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the German broadcaster ZDF that Ukraine’s deficit of Patriot systems "can’t get any worse." Ukraine's stockpiles may finally be replenished after the latest Ramstein meeting, the 34th such since the start of the war, which took place in Berlin on April 15.​The U.S. was among the few countries that did not send a senior civilian defense official to the meeting. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth skipped the gathering, as he did last year; instead, the Pentagon's policy chief, Elbridge Colby, attended the virtual meeting, just as he did at the last meeting in February.​European allies pledged fresh volumes of military assistance to Ukraine. One of the most consequential commitments came from Germany, which allocated $4 billion for air defense. Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's Defense Minister, said Berlin would invest an additional $600m in developing Kyiv's "deep strike and mid-strike capabilities."​No less significant is the support from the U.K., which pledged to supply 120,000 drones. This could become the largest drone package Ukraine has received to date. In total, European assistance with drones should jump to $1.5 billion this year.