Russia conducted a significant drone and missile assault on Ukraine early Friday, resulting in the deaths of six individuals in Kyiv and two in the southern region. The strikes targeted energy facilities, residential buildings, and vital infrastructure, according to Ukrainian authorities.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that the Russian forces deployed 430 drones and 18 missiles in one of the most extensive attacks on the capital to date. Kyiv retaliated with long-range strikes and called for increased sanctions on Russia from its allies.
Although the air force managed to intercept most of the drones and missiles, debris and fires caused damage to high-rise apartments, a school, a medical facility, and administrative buildings across nine districts in Kyiv, a city with a population of around three million.
Timur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, reported that at least 34 people, including two children, were injured in the city, with nine individuals receiving treatment in a hospital, including a pregnant woman. The energy ministry announced partial power outages in central Kyiv, southern Odesa, and eastern Donetsk regions.
Residents witnessed flames engulfing various locations in the city, with people seeking safety amidst the rubble-strewn streets after the attack. Anastasia, 29, recounted the chaos when her apartment building was hit, describing the dilemma of whether to save oneself, help others, or protect loved ones amid the screams for assistance.
The governor of the Kyiv region outside the capital noted that drone and missile assaults injured six people, including a seven-year-old child, and sparked multiple fires. In a separate incident, a 55-year-old man in Bila Tserkva sustained burns and was hospitalized.
The conflict escalated as Russia targeted Ukraine’s oil infrastructure, leading to a temporary suspension of oil exports from the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The attack damaged a docked ship, apartment buildings, and an oil depot in Novorossiysk, causing injuries to three crew members.
This assault on Russian oil-exporting infrastructure followed Ukraine’s increased strikes on Russian oil refineries in an effort to disrupt Moscow’s financial resources for the war. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium briefly halted oil loadings, and the Sheskharis terminal faced significant damage from the Ukrainian attack.
While the accounts of these attacks could not be independently verified, Russian crude oil shipments through Novorossiysk’s Sheskharis terminal were disrupted. The Sierra Leone-flagged Arlan oil tanker was reportedly struck during the assault, with three crew members undergoing medical treatment.
President Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian forces utilized long-range “Long Neptune” cruise missiles on Russian targets, citing growing success with such strikes. The Russian Defence Ministry claimed to have shot down 216 Ukrainian drones in various regions, including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.