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Today, the Ukrainian capital Kyiv is

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observing a day of mourning following

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Russia's large-scale aerial attack across the

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country on Friday. It was the

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deadliest day for civilians in the

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city since the war began, killing

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28 people, wounding

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dozens more. NPR's Alyssa

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Nadwirny is in Kyiv and sent us

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this report. At

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a commercial warehouse in Kyiv, one of

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the places hit in Friday's big attack,

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the ceiling is completely blown off. Inside,

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I can see there's fire damage and

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glass and debris all around. Across

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the country, rescue workers spent the weekend

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searching for bodies amid the debris left

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by the missile and drone attack, the

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largest since the war began in February

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of In

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Kyiv, more bodies were found in the

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rubble since yesterday. Elena

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Chernovska is across the street from one

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of the sites that was hit, looking

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up at the damaged buildings and wiping

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away tears. It's

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a sentiment felt throughout the city on

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a somber and subdued New Year's Day.

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At Lusova Cemetery, Polina Soboleva is

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taking yellow roses and some sweets

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to the grave of her husband,

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Alexander, who died last February on

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the anniversary of the war. It's

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my first New Year's without him, she

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tells producer Katerina Malafieva, and it's important

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to be here today with him now.

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She says it's hard to walk past these

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graves and think, how many more will end

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up here? In

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other parts of the city, families are

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trying to find normalcy, some happiness, where

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they can. At

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a winter market across the city, there are

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stands selling popcorn, water, and food. the

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hot, bold wine. And

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there's a skating rink, the twinkle lights strung

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up above. Mia,

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who is six, and her older sister, Diana.

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I am nine years old. We're among

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the skaters. Last year we couldn't even

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stand on ice. One

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year we was on roller skate, and now

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we could stand. It's very

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great to look and we could just stand. Diana

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tells me she's been looking forward to this market

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for a while. We are

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drinking Coca-Cola, eating this

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chocolate and the corn.

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Sounds like a pretty good day. Yes.

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Today it was great. That's the

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girl's father, Dima. You can

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notice it in the ground

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floor somewhere and just close

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inside yourself. You

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need somehow to keep on moving. Parents

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here tell us that with kids who

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don't fully understand what's happening to their

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country, this is especially important.

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Andre Forza is here with his son,

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Platon. It was the four-year-old's

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first time on skates. He fell and

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got up without tears. We're

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trying to enjoy the moment while there's still a

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possibility to do so, he says. We've

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had hard times, he said. We

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just wanted some joy between the air raid sirens.

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But their fun is short-lived. They've

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just received an alert on their phones. Drones

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have been spotted above the region

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to the north, possibly heading for

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Kyiv. Let's

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go, he's like Han says. It's

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time to rush home. Alyssa

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Nadworney, NPR News, Kyiv.