KYIV, Ukraine — Overnight, Russian drones targeted the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, resulting in the death of two individuals and injuring at least 17 others, according to Ukrainian officials on Saturday. In addition, three assault helicopters and an anti-aircraft missile system were reportedly destroyed on the Russian-held Crimean Peninsula.
Ukraine’s Security Service agency deployed special drones to attack the Kirovske military airfield, a Ukrainian security official said on Saturday.
“Reports indicate the destruction of multi-purpose and attack helicopters, specifically Mi-8, Mi-26, and Mi-28, along with the Pantsir-S1 self-propelled anti-aircraft missile and gun complex,” stated an official involved in the operation, speaking under the condition of anonymity.
In Odesa, a drone collided with a residential tower, damaging three floors and entrapping residents, emergency services reported. The deceased were identified as a married couple, said regional Governor Oleh Kiper, who also noted that the injured included three children.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow. According to Russia’s Defense Ministry, over 40 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight and on Saturday morning over western Russia and Kremlin-occupied Crimea.
Long-range drone strikes have been a hallmark of the war, now in its fourth year. The race by both sides to develop increasingly sophisticated and deadlier drones has turned the war into a testing ground for new weaponry.
Ukrainian drones have pulled off some stunning feats. At the start of June, nearly a third of Moscow’s strategic bomber fleet was destroyed or damaged in a covert Ukrainian operation using cheaply made drones sneaked into Russian territory.
Smaller, short-range drones are used by both sides on the battlefield and in areas close to the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line.
The U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said in a report published Thursday that short-range drone attacks killed at least 395 civilians and injured 2,635 between the start of the war in February 2022 and April 2025. Almost 90% of the attacks were by the Russian armed forces, it reported.
More than 13,300 civilians have died and over 34,700 have been injured in the war, the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said a June 11 report.
Featured video is from a previous report
