Russia launches barrage of 145 drones in overnight attacks on Ukraine

Russia launched another round of overnight attacks on Ukraine from Wednesday into Thursday, targeting it with a total of 145 Shahed and decoy drones, according to Ukraine’s Armed Forces Telegram channel.

The large-scale drone assault targeted multiple regions, including Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Khmelnytskyi, Poltava, and Mykolaiv, causing both injuries and material damage.

In the southern city of Mykolaiv, at least 10 people were injured as residential buildings were struck, damaging apartments and personal belongings.

Posting on X, local Governor Vitaliy Kim condemned the attack, writing that “The terror must stop”.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine’s central-eastern region of Poltava, the head of the Opishnia community, Mykola Riznyk, reported that the area had been hit by Russian shelling that injured one person and damaged parts of the town.

Local resident Ivan Chaban described the moment of the attack: “I was feeling hot. A bit of glass hit my leg. The windows had shattered. Such a powerful blast wave. The car was wrecked because of the fragments. The garage was damaged, and the car’s headlights were blown out.”

According to the Ukrainian Defence Forces, the Russian overnight attack was countered by aviation forces, anti-aircraft missiles, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups, who together shot down 85 of the incoming drones. Another 49 reportedly went off radar and did not reach their intended targets.

As reported by the Institute for the Study of War, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief General Oleksandr Syrskyi confirmed that Russian forces have intensified attacks across all major fronts.

He noted that new offensive operations have begun in the eastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions.