Russia unleashed a wave of missiles and drones at cities across Ukraine in an attack that started after nightfall Wednesday and stretched into Thursday morning, with blasts reverberating through Kyiv as daylight broke over the capital.
Ukraine remains critically short of U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles, among the few systems capable of intercepting Russia’s ballistic missiles. At the same time, Moscow’s fast, jet-powered drones have added a new strain on Ukrainian air defenses in the fifth year since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Ukrainian officials say Moscow is stockpiling missiles before launching large-scale strikes every few days, aiming to overwhelm and wear down Ukraine’s defensive network through sheer volume. Kyiv, meanwhile, has struck prominent targets inside Russia as both sides continue to inflict heavy damage.
Russia says attack targeted war-related facilities
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces had carried out a “massive” overnight strike against targets in nine Ukrainian cities. It claimed the sites were linked to the military, including industrial plants, oil refineries, logistics centers and port facilities.
But civilian neighborhoods were also hit, with apartment buildings among the structures damaged. Ukrainian officials said a 78-year-old woman was killed in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, while at least nine other people were reported wounded in separate locations.
“Russia continues to invest in missiles and in expanding its war, and that means more countermeasures are needed,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media, pointing to pledges made earlier this week by European countries to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses.
Zelensky said it was vital that those steps be reinforced with additional ballistic missile defense packages through European purchases of weapons from the United States.
Zelensky make official visit to neighbor Moldova
The Ukrainian leader was expected to travel Thursday to neighboring Moldova for its national day, which commemorates the country’s 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. Ukraine declared independence that same year.
Russia’s neighbors in Eastern Europe are concerned its invasion of Ukraine could trigger a wider conflict, and drones flying into its airspace have fueled jitters.
Moldova’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday that five drones breached its airspace overnight, but it didn’t specify who fired them.
Ukraine’s air force said defenses shot down or suppressed seven Russian ballistic missiles, though it didn’t say how they achieved that.
Four districts of Kyiv were hit during the night, damaging residential blocks, a school building and a medical facility, though no casualties were reported, city police said.
Russian forces struck industrial facilities as well as energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s central Poltava region, said Vitalii Diakivnych, head of the Poltava regional military administration.
The southern Odesa region also came under a massive Russian attack lasting more than seven hours, according to Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration.
The barrage damaged a 16-story residential building and two educational facilities as well as a grain elevator, he said.
Odesa is a key port for Ukraine’s vital exports of grain and other agricultural products.
