President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that an overnight wave of Russian airstrikes left at least three people dead and more than 30 others wounded in Ukraine. He said the coordinated strikes, which hit multiple regions, were part of a deliberate campaign to terrorize civilians and cripple essential infrastructure. One missile directly struck a residential apartment block, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine’s air force reported that Moscow unleashed a staggering 619 missiles and drones during the assault. Russia’s defense ministry, however, characterized the action as a large-scale offensive using “precision weapons,” claiming the intended targets were facilities linked to Ukraine’s defense industry.
In a separate incident, Russian authorities said four people were killed in the Samara region after a Ukrainian drone attack. Kyiv asserted responsibility, saying the strike had successfully hit a key oil refinery.
Ukrainian officials reported fresh strikes on Russian energy facilities, saying one oil refinery in Saratov region was damaged overnight, alongside another in Samara. The escalation comes as President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, launched in 2022, enters another volatile phase.
In an update on social media, President Volodymyr Zelensky said wide areas of Ukraine — including Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Mykolaiv, and Chernihiv — came under attack during the night. He noted that missiles and drones hit “residential quarters and civilian infrastructure.” In Dnipro, a missile carrying cluster munitions slammed into a high-rise apartment block. Images verified by the BBC show a badly damaged tower in the city, along with video of the projectile moments before impact.
Across the border, Russian authorities confirmed casualties from Ukrainian drone raids. Samara’s governor said four people were killed and one injured, while Ukraine’s military claimed responsibility for targeting the Novokuibyshevsk refinery there. Kyiv has steadily intensified its strikes on Russia’s oil and industrial assets, part of its effort to weaken Moscow’s war machine. At the same time, Russia has increased aerial bombardments across Ukraine. The conflict has also spilled into NATO’s security concerns, with Estonia, Poland, and Romania accusing Moscow of airspace violations this month — allegations the Kremlin denies. Meanwhile, Zelensky revealed he will meet U.S. President Donald Trump during next week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York, even as diplomatic efforts have so far failed to bring an end to the war.
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