Russia conducted a significant drone and missile assault on Ukraine early Friday, resulting in the deaths of six individuals in Kyiv and two others in the southern region due to strikes on energy installations, residential buildings, and infrastructure, as confirmed by Ukrainian authorities. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed that the Russian forces employed 430 drones and 18 missiles, marking one of the most extensive attacks on the capital to date. Kyiv retaliated with long-range strikes, with Zelenskyy urging allies to escalate sanctions against Russia.
Although the air force reported that a majority of the drones and missiles were intercepted, falling debris and fires caused damage to high-rise apartments, a school, a medical facility, and administrative structures across nine districts of the city, which houses approximately three million people. Timur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, stated that at least 34 individuals, including two children, were wounded in various parts of the city, with nine receiving medical treatment, including a pregnant woman.
The central Kyiv region, southern Odesa region, and eastern Donetsk region experienced partial power outages due to the attacks, according to the energy ministry. Images depicted flames engulfing multiple locations in the city, with residents gathered in streets littered with debris following the onslaught. Anastasia, a 29-year-old resident, recounted the chaos when her residential building was hit, describing the dilemma of whether to prioritize her own safety, that of her child, or assisting others amid the chaos and screams for help.
Furthermore, the governor of the Kyiv region outside the city reported that drone and missile strikes injured six individuals, including a seven-year-old child, resulting in several fires. A 55-year-old man in Bila Tserkva sustained burns and was hospitalized, according to Mykola Kalashnyk, the head of the regional military administration. The conflict escalated as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 continued, plunging the neighboring nations into a persistent state of war.
Azerbaijan’s Embassy was struck by debris from an Iskander missile, with Azerbaijan summoning the Russian ambassador to protest the incident. The Azerbaijani foreign ministry disclosed that the missile blast damaged part of the embassy’s perimeter wall and caused significant harm to the diplomatic compound without any casualties reported. In response, Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk suspended oil exports temporarily following a purported Ukrainian drone attack, impacting global oil supply.
The attack on Novorossiysk also inflicted damage on a docked ship, apartment buildings, and an oil depot, causing injuries to three crew members aboard the vessel. This assault, considered one of the most severe on Russian oil-exporting infrastructure in recent times, occurred following heightened Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries in August, aimed at undermining Moscow’s financial capacity to sustain its military endeavors. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium, responsible for oil exports from Kazakhstan through the Yuzhnaya Ozereevka terminal, briefly halted oil loadings during the air alert, later resuming operations post the clearance.
Despite the detailed reports of the attacks, there was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials, and Reuters could not independently verify the incidents. Novorossiysk’s Sheskharis terminal, a critical point for Russian crude oil shipments, witnessed a disruption in operations due to the assault, affecting millions of tonnes of oil trade. The Sierra Leone-flagged Arlan oil tanker was reportedly struck during the attack, resulting in injuries to crew members, who were subsequently hospitalized for treatment in Novorossiysk.
Additionally, Zelenskyy declared that Ukrainian forces had deployed “Long Neptune” cruise missiles on Russian targets overnight, with the strikes showing increasing effectiveness. The Russian Defence Ministry asserted that its air defense forces had intercepted 216 Ukrainian drones in various regions, including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.