Russia hits Ukraine with one of its biggest missile and drone barrages of the war, killing at least 11
Ukraine says Russia fired about 70 missiles and more than 100 drones overnight, aiming at the power grid and hitting homes in several cities. Hours earlier, drones struck two commercial ships in Bulgaria’s Black Sea waters, sinking one.
What we know: At least 11 people were killed and more than 34 injured in an overnight Russian attack on Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday, calling it one of the biggest strikes since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the Guardian and Al Jazeera reported. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 130 drones, 48 cruise missiles and an unspecified number of ballistic missiles, and that air defenses downed 161 targets, according to Al Jazeera. Zelenskyy put the missile count at 70.
Where it hit: “One of the key targets was our energy infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said. In Pryluky, in the northern Chernihiv region, a missile struck a five-story apartment building, and regional authorities feared more residents were trapped under the rubble, Al Jazeera and RTÉ reported. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two people died in a fire in the city’s Darnytskyi district. Deaths were also reported in Dnipro, Kremenchuk and Oleksandriia.
Russia’s account: Russia’s Defense Ministry said it carried out a “massive strike” on military-industrial sites in Kyiv and six other regions, including facilities where the company Fire Point makes Flamingo cruise missiles and long-range drones, as well as port and ship-repair sites in the Odesa region, Al Jazeera reported. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces hit four targets inside Russia over the past day, including two oil facilities. The attack came on Vladimir Putin’s 74th birthday, which Zelenskyy mocked as “a birthday gift for Putin,” the Guardian said.
Black Sea shipping: Separately, Bulgaria’s prime minister, Rumen Radev, said air and sea drones hit two commercial vessels about 80 miles off Bulgaria’s coast early Tuesday — the first attack on shipping in the NATO member’s exclusive economic zone, the AP reported via NBC News. The Togo-flagged Alfa Watan sank. All 18 crew members of the second ship, the Palau-flagged Able, were evacuated, and two were seriously hurt. Bulgarian authorities said the drones’ origin is under investigation; Zelenskyy said a joint check with Bulgaria’s navy showed it was a Russian attack. Russia had not responded to that claim when the AP reported it.
Still unknown: The final death toll in Pryluky, how much of Ukraine’s power supply was knocked out, and the fate of the Alfa Watan’s crew. Bulgaria has halted its search for the missing sailors, RTÉ reported.
Sources
- Al Jazeera — At least 11 killed as Russia launches ‘massive’ attack on Ukraine
- The Guardian — At least 11 dead, 34 injured after ‘vile’ attack on Ukraine on Putin’s birthday, Zelenskyy says
- RTÉ — Russia kills 11 in one of its biggest strikes on Ukraine, says Zelensky
- NBC News (AP) — Bulgaria’s leader says drone attack hits 2 commercial vessels, and Ukraine’s president blames Russia