Key facts
- Russia launched a massive overnight missile and drone attack across nine Ukrainian cities.
- Targets included military facilities, oil refineries, logistics hubs, and port infrastructure.
- Explosions and damage were reported in Kyiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, and Poltava regions.
- At least one civilian was killed and multiple others were injured.
- Ukraine's air defenses intercepted some projectiles but could not stop all of them.
Russia launched a large-scale overnight missile and drone attack across nine Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv, Odesa, and Zaporizhzhia, continuing into daylight hours. The Russian Defense Ministry stated the strikes targeted military-related facilities such as industrial sites, oil refineries, logistics hubs, and port infrastructure. However, civilian areas, including apartment blocks, suffered damage. Ukrainian officials reported that a 78-year-old woman was killed in the Zaporizhzhia region, with at least nine other people wounded elsewhere.
Explosions were heard around Kyiv, with city police reporting damage to residential blocks, a school, and a medical facility in four districts, though no casualties were reported there. The Poltava region's industrial and energy infrastructure was also struck, while the southern Odesa region endured an attack lasting over seven hours, damaging a residential building, educational facilities, and a grain elevator. Odesa is a critical port for Ukraine's agricultural exports.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized the need for additional ballistic missile defense packages, noting Ukraine's shortage of U.S.-made Patriot missiles and the challenge posed by Russia's fast-flying drones. He highlighted that Russia continues to build up missile stocks for frequent, heavy attacks to exhaust Ukrainian defenses. In response, Ukraine has also been targeting high-profile sites on Russian soil.
Ukraine's air force reported shooting down or suppressing seven Russian ballistic missiles, and later stated that 18 out of 41 launched ballistic missiles were intercepted. In total, 23 Russian missiles and 10 drones reportedly hit 20 locations. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses downed 267 Ukrainian drones over various Russian regions and Crimea. Ukraine has also been using hundreds of long-range drones nightly, with recent strikes targeting logistics facilities of Ozon, Russia's second-largest e-commerce company.