Russia launched a fresh wave of drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities on Thursday, killing at least one person and wounding more than a dozen others, according to local authorities. The strikes, which began overnight and continued into the morning, targeted the capital Kyiv as well as Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa, and the Sumy region.
In Kharkiv, a Russian drone struck a shopping centre, killing one person and injuring several others, regional prosecutors said. Governor Oleh Syniehubov posted photos on Telegram showing the charred interior of a department store, with part of the roof and a wall torn away. The attack came as the city has endured repeated aerial bombardments in recent weeks.
In the southern city of Kherson, three people were wounded when a drone hit a local bus, according to the head of the city administration, Yaroslav Shanko. “The enemy attacked civilian transportation in broad daylight while people were simply going about their business,” he said. In Odesa, three more people were injured in a separate strike.
Kyiv under fire
In the capital, multiple explosions were heard as air raid alerts sounded several times during the morning. Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported that four people had been injured, two of whom were taken to hospital. In a separate statement, he said a drone had crashed onto a road. Social media footage showed large plumes of smoke rising from one of the targeted sites.
Many Kyiv residents were forced to shelter in the metro, which does not cross the Dnipro River during air raids, leaving commuters stranded on the eastern bank. The regional governor, Tymur Tkachenko, said warehouses in the Kyiv region had been targeted overnight. “The enemy has been attacking the Kyiv region all night with strike drones and ballistic missiles,” he wrote on Telegram.
In the northeastern Sumy region, authorities reported one person killed and four others wounded by Russian attacks. The strikes are part of a recent intensification of Russian aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities, including during daylight hours, a tactic that has become more frequent more than four years into the full-scale invasion.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again called on Kyiv's allies to deliver more ballistic missile defence packages to counter such attacks. “Every day of delay in providing air defence systems costs lives,” he said in his nightly address, repeating a plea that has become a constant refrain as Ukraine's air defences face growing strain.
The attacks come as European allies debate how to sustain military support for Ukraine. Some EU member states have revived efforts to tap frozen Russian assets to fund Kyiv's defence, while others have explored joint procurement of weapons. The strikes also underscore the urgency of Ukraine's request for more advanced air defence systems, a topic likely to be high on the agenda at upcoming NATO and EU meetings.
As the war grinds on, civilian infrastructure continues to bear the brunt of Russian strikes. The repeated daytime attacks have forced Ukrainians to adapt their daily routines, with many now checking air raid alerts before venturing out. The psychological toll is mounting, but so is the resolve to resist, as evidenced by the resilience of residents in Kharkiv, Kherson, and Kyiv.
