KYIV, Ukraine — Three people were killed across Ukraine during overnight Russian attacks on Wednesday, including one fatality in Kyiv, where powerful blasts rocked the capital for the second consecutive night.
Multiple explosions were heard shortly after midnight — before officials had even issued an air raid warning. That unusual sequence raised concerns, as alerts are normally sent out ahead of strikes so that residents have time to seek shelter.
In the city of Kharkiv, two people were killed and 20 others were wounded in a string of overnight strikes, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia launched 169 long-range strike drones and seven missiles — including five ballistic missiles — at the country overnight. Air defenses managed to shoot down or electronically jam 139 of the drones, and two anti-radar missiles failed to reach their intended targets. However, all five ballistic missiles and 20 drones successfully hit targets at 15 different locations, highlighting the ongoing pressure on Ukraine’s air defense network.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its military struck arms production sites in Kyiv, saying it hit a factory manufacturing components for Flamingo cruise missiles and another facility that assembles medium- and long-range drones.
Russia’s Defense Ministry also reported that its air defenses brought down 415 Ukrainian drones between late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Saratov Governor Roman Busargin said a Ukrainian drone strike killed one person, injured several others, and caused damage to unspecified industrial facilities in the region.
Nizhnekamsk Mayor Radmir Belyayev reported that Ukrainian drones damaged industrial sites in his city and left several people injured, though he did not identify which facilities were affected.
Yuri Slyusar, the governor of Russia’s Rostov region, said Ukrainian drones struck and damaged two oil tankers in Taganrog Bay, injuring two crew members. One of the vessels had to be evacuated. Slyusar noted there was no oil spill, as both tankers were empty and heading toward the port of Rostov-on-Don.
Back in Kyiv, one woman was killed and two others were injured in the Russian assault, according to city administration head Tymur Tkachenko. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said the attack damaged several administrative buildings, warehouses, a garage complex, and multiple city trams.
In the Zaporizhzhia region, a Russian guided bomb injured an elderly man and a woman overnight, according to regional head Ivan Fedorov.
