Explosions rang through Kyiv into Thursday morning after Russia launched a major overnight attack targeting nine Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones. The Russian Defense Ministry described the operation as a massive strike on military-related targets, including industrial facilities, oil refineries, logistics hubs, and port infrastructure. Civilian areas were also hit.
According to ABC News, a 78-year-old woman was killed in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and another person died in the northern Kharkiv region. At least 14 others were reported wounded.
Russian drones struck three major distribution centers, destroying depots belonging to a toy store chain and a confectionery company, and damaging one run by an electronics retailer. The companies confirmed the damage. In the southern Kherson region, four powerful glide bombs destroyed generating equipment at a combined heat and power plant, forcing it to shut down. The plant's operator, Naftogaz, confirmed the closure.
Ukrainian officials said Russia builds up missile stocks and launches major attacks every few days, aiming to exhaust Ukrainian defenses through sheer volume. Ukraine has responded by striking high-profile targets inside Russia.
Ukraine remains critically short of U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles capable of countering Russia's ballistic missiles. Russia's fast-flying jet-powered drones have added a separate layer of pressure on Ukrainian defenses since the full-scale invasion began four and a half years ago.
"Russia continues to invest in missiles and in expanding its war, and that means more countermeasures are needed," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media. "It is important that these (measures) are also supplemented by additional ballistic missile defense packages" through European purchases of weapons from the United States.
Zelenskyy was scheduled to travel Thursday to neighboring Moldova to mark its national day, commemorating the country's 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. Ukraine declared its own independence that same year.
Earlier this week, European countries promised additional air defense assistance to Ukraine. Zelenskyy noted those commitments in his post but indicated more was still needed.
