Additional Coverage:
Massive Russian Assault Batters Ukraine, Leaving Four Dead and Dozens Injured
KYIV, UKRAINE – A widespread aerial assault by Russian forces overnight Friday into Saturday left at least four people dead and 26 injured across central and eastern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian authorities.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported a barrage of 503 projectiles, comprising 458 drones and 45 missiles. While 415 were intercepted, the remaining 78 struck 25 different locations nationwide.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attacks, stating that the targets remained consistent: “ordinary life, residential buildings, our energy system, and infrastructure.”
The city of Dnipro bore the brunt of the assault, with three fatalities and 11 injuries, including children, following a drone strike on an apartment building. Authorities also reported three additional injuries in the nearby Samarskyi district of the wider Dnipropetrovsk region.
In the Kharkiv region, the village of Rokytne saw one person killed. Eight others were injured in the suburbs of Kharkiv city, with further injuries reported in Chuhuiv and Hrushivka. The mayor of Kharkiv confirmed a significant electricity shortage gripping the city.
Further reports indicated one injury in the Poltava region and another in the neighboring Kyiv region. Energy infrastructure facilities in Poltava were targeted, resulting in widespread outages of electricity, water, and heating for several communities.
This marks the ninth major attack on Ukraine’s gas infrastructure since October, according to Ukrainian state-run energy firm Naftogaz, which accused Russia of intentionally targeting vital utilities during the winter.
The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the overnight operation, stating it had targeted Ukrainian military and energy infrastructure. The ministry described the “massive strike” as a response to “Ukraine’s terrorist attacks on civilian targets in Russia.”