Ukraine says Russia hit Kyiv and other cities with missiles and drones, killing at least eight people
Russia has launched a major wave of missiles and drones against Ukrainian cities, killing at least eight people and injuring dozens, according to Ukrainian officials.
The Russian missile attack hit Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia and Sumy, with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, describing the strike on the capital as one of the most intense ballistic attacks since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.
In Kyiv, an elderly woman was reported dead after overnight strikes damaged residential and non-residential buildings. The capital’s mayor said a supermarket, a dormitory and several other sites were hit, while firefighters worked to control blazes at warehouses around the region.
Kharkiv also suffered heavy losses. Regional officials said a postal terminal on the edge of the city was struck, killing four men and leaving several people in a serious condition. Two more people were reported killed in Zaporizhzhia, while another death was recorded in Sumy.
Ukraine’s military said air defences around Kyiv shot down 18 of 41 missiles and intercepted 108 drones. The air force said Russia used a mix of weapons, including Iskander missiles, hypersonic Zircon missiles and attack drones.
The Russian missile attack came during a week of heavy bombardment. Zelensky said Moscow had used about 1,450 strike drones, more than 1,640 guided bombs and 99 missiles of various types against Ukraine over the past seven days.
He urged allies to speed up deliveries of ballistic missile interceptors, calling air defence Ukraine’s constant and urgent priority. Kyiv says its existing systems are under growing strain as Russia increases the scale and frequency of long-range attacks.
The fighting also spread to the Black Sea. Ukraine’s navy said five people were killed when a Turkish-owned civilian cargo ship carrying grain was hit by Russian missiles. Russia has not publicly commented on that claim.
Ukraine also reported strikes of its own against Russian energy and shipping targets. Zelensky said Ukrainian forces hit three Russian oil tankers in the Black Sea and struck oil depots in the southern Stavropol region, describing them as targets linked to the financing of Moscow’s war.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium said its terminal near Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk had been hit, damaging two tankers and forcing oil loading operations to stop. It said there were no injuries and no oil spill. Officials in Stavropol also reported a fire at an industrial site after a drone attack.
The Russian missile attack followed Ukrainian drone strikes on warehouses linked to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer. Those attacks reportedly caused major fires and killed eight people at sites in Tambov and Elektrostal.
Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russian fuel and logistics infrastructure, arguing that oil and gas revenue helps fund Moscow’s invasion. Kyiv has claimed that a large share of Russia’s refining capacity has been disabled, though that figure has not been independently verified.
Russia, meanwhile, continues to hit Ukrainian cities and civilian areas, increasing pressure on Kyiv to secure more air-defence systems from Europe and other allies.
The latest Russian missile attack shows how the war is expanding beyond the front line. Ukrainian homes, warehouses, ports, energy sites and shipping routes are all being pulled deeper into the conflict.
For Kyiv, the immediate priority is survival from the air. For Moscow, the attacks appear designed to exhaust Ukraine’s defences and keep pressure on civilians far from the battlefield.