Kyiv’s air defences shot down 18 of 41 Russian missiles fired at the capital overnight. They also intercepted 108 drones. It was not enough to stop a deadly night: Russia’s wave of ballistic missile and drone strikes killed at least eight people across Ukraine and injured dozens, officials said.
Four men aged between 24 and 62 died in Kharkiv when a postal terminal in the city’s suburbs was hit, according to regional head Oleh Syniehubov. An elderly woman was killed in Kyiv. Zaporizhzhia in the south recorded two deaths, and Sumy in the north-east one.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the raid on Kyiv “one of the most massive ballistic attacks” since the full-scale invasion began in 2022. Ukraine’s air force said the weapons included Iskander and hypersonic Zircon missiles along with 125 drones. Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said residential and non-residential buildings were damaged, among them a supermarket and a dormitory. Firefighters fought fires at two warehouses, and the emergencies ministry said a logistics hub in Bucha district was hit, injuring two people.
Ship hit in the Black Sea
Late on Sunday, Ukraine’s navy said five people died when Russian missiles struck a Turkish-owned civilian cargo ship carrying grain in the Black Sea. Russia has not commented.
Ukraine’s own strikes
Kyiv says it hit back. Zelensky said Ukrainian units struck three oil depots in Russia’s Stavropol region at the same time, plus another fuel facility there, and recorded “precise hits” on three “shadow fleet” tankers in the Black Sea. Stavropol’s governor said a drone attack started a fire in an industrial park.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which moves Kazakhstan’s oil to the Russian port of Novorossiysk, said its terminal was hit and two tankers damaged. Loading was suspended. Nobody was hurt, and there was no spill.
Zelensky said Russia had used about 1,450 strike drones, more than 1,640 guided bombs and 99 missiles against Ukraine in the past week. He described Ukraine’s operations as a response to “Russian strikes on our civilian infrastructure and on our cities and communities.”
Ukraine has recently stepped up long-range drone attacks on Russian energy sites, causing widespread fuel shortages. Earlier this month Kyiv said nearly 43% of Russia’s oil refining capacity had been “disabled.” The BBC could not verify that figure. Ukraine argues oil and gas facilities are legitimate targets because Moscow relies on fossil fuel exports to pay for the war.
With Russian attacks on cities growing, Kyiv has asked its European allies for more ballistic missile interceptors. “Interceptors are needed every day,” Zelensky said on Sunday.
