"This was tough." This is how the Russian bombing that left 13 dead in Kiev was experienced.

Special envoy to KievKiev woke up this Tuesday to a strong smell of smoke in the air. In fact, it's safe to say the city hasn't slept. Russia punished the residents of the Ukrainian capital with another massive attack, lasting nine hours, using a combination of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles that left at least 13 dead and 124 injured.

The alarms went off at 9:30 p.m., but no one seemed too nervous. It's become part of everyday life for Ukrainians: in recent weeks, air raid sirens have sounded practically every day. "If you hear explosions, it's best to go to the shelter," the hotel receptionist advised me on my first night in Kiev. Otherwise, everyone should stay calm. They've been living with this reality for three and a half years, and it will be impossible not to downplay the danger.

But tonight was different. After midnight the bombardment began, and soon it became clear that this was no ordinary attack. The sound of anti-aircraft batteries (ratatatatano) was insistent. Flashes of light could be seen in the sky on either side, coming from various directions. A spotlight illuminating the sky moved from left to right to facilitate identification of the projectiles to be shot down. And from time to time, the sound of explosions could be heard, booms that initially seemed quite far from the center. But at 1:30 a.m., the noise became more powerful.

Reports of a missile attack on a student dormitory began to spread on social media. The explosions have been heard in various parts of Ukraine: Russia has attacked up to 27 different points in the capital and also the city of Odessa, in the south of the country, where local authorities have reported 13 injured.

The hotel shelter, near the university area, is full tonight. It's a room about 12 square meters in the basement, with six pool loungers and a small sofa, where a boy of about eight is sleeping. His mother, a South American woman who approaches us when she hears us speaking Spanish, calms him down when he wakes up. An explosion sounds clearly felt underground. We look at each other, and she winks at me, as if to say with her eyes: "Yes, this was a big one."

On social media, some people say it's one of the worst nights they've experienced in Kiev. On the mobile app that warns of attack alerts, all of Ukraine is in red. And it warns of Russian MiG-31K fighter jets taking off from two different locations. It also reports cruise missile launches from the sea in the Crimea area.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called the attack on Kiev one of the worst since the start of the war. In fact, it is the deadliest in nearly a year, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. The deadliest of the conflict remains that of December 29, 2023, when Russian bombs killed 39 people.

With a heavy heart

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed in a Telegram post that residential buildings and other infrastructure were severely damaged and did not rule out the possibility that some people had been trapped under the rubble. "The death toll may rise," he stated.

The scene of the day was precisely that of a married couple who watched, their hearts heavy, as rescue teams removed the rubble from their home, where their son had been trapped after the impact of Russian missiles. The video, showing them both with a desperate expression and teary eyes, went around the world. Hours later, the death of the 31-year-old was confirmed.

Images of Kiev residents taking shelter in the subway have also spread on social media. At dawn, the sounds of the explosions continued, and a thick, dark gray cloud of smoke covered the city.

At 6:06, finally, the phone alerted us that the danger was over. At least for now.Maya the force be with you(May the force be with you), wishes the borrowed voicemail from George Lucas. Irony is a good weapon for surviving war.