NEWS DESK (MNN); Russia launched a large-scale drone and missile assault on Ukraine overnight on Saturday, killing at least seven people, including two children, and causing significant damage to infrastructure in several parts of the country, Ukrainian officials said.
According to Ukrainian authorities, the northeastern city of Kharkiv was among the worst-hit areas where a Russian ballistic missile struck a residential building, resulting in multiple casualties and widespread destruction.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched 480 drones and 29 missiles targeting the country’s energy facilities and railway infrastructure.
“There should be a response from our partners to these savage strikes against life,” Zelensky said in a message posted on the Telegram messaging platform.
He added that Moscow had not abandoned its attempts to destroy Ukraine’s residential areas and critical infrastructure, urging international partners to continue providing air defence systems and military assistance.
Ukraine’s air force said its air defence systems successfully intercepted 453 drones and 19 missiles during the overnight assault. However, nine missiles and 26 attack drones managed to strike 22 separate locations across the country.
Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said the city was targeted by both drones and missiles. The dead included two children after a ballistic missile hit a five-storey apartment building.
“When we arrived here 20 minutes after the explosion, I thought I was going to have a stroke. I couldn’t even speak properly and my legs were shaking,” Hanna, a resident of the destroyed building, told Reuters.
“It’s good that I wasn’t there with my child and that my father was with me. Ordinary people lived there. What exactly were they targeting?” she said.
Television footage from the site showed white smoke rising from the rubble as emergency teams searched through the debris. Rescue workers were also seen carrying a body from the scene in a black bag.
Authorities said at least 15 people were injured in Kharkiv, while 19 residential buildings sustained damage during the attacks.
The strikes also damaged commercial and administrative buildings, electricity distribution lines and several vehicles, according to local officials.
In the capital Kyiv, three people were reported injured after Russian strikes hit an energy infrastructure facility, disrupting heating systems in 2,806 residential apartment buildings across four districts of the city, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.
Ukraine’s national electricity grid operator Ukrenergo said emergency power outages were introduced in seven regions following the attacks in order to stabilise the energy system.
Officials also reported that Russia targeted railway infrastructure in central Ukraine, striking four railway stations and related facilities.
In the southern Odesa region, attacks hit port infrastructure, setting containers filled with vegetable oil on fire and damaging a grain warehouse, further affecting logistics and supply chains.
