At least three people have been killed and more than 30 injured in what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described as a “massive” overnight aerial assault by Russia.
Zelensky said the strikes targeted multiple regions across the country in a “deliberate strategy” designed to “intimidate civilians and destroy our infrastructure.”
One missile directly struck a residential building, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Ukraine’s air force reported that Moscow launched 619 drones and missiles in the wave of attacks.
Russia’s defence ministry, however, said its “massive strike” used “precision weapons” against military-industrial facilities.
Separately, Russian officials confirmed four deaths following a Ukrainian drone strike on the Samara region. Kyiv claimed responsibility, saying its forces hit the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery, and added that another refinery in the neighbouring Saratov region was also damaged.
Posting on social media, Zelensky said the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy and Kharkiv were all targeted overnight, with “residential areas and civilian facilities” among those hit.
He highlighted the situation in Dnipro, where a “direct hit of a missile with cluster munitions on a high-rising residential building” was reported.
The BBC verified footage showing a missile in flight, followed by an impact, and photographs confirmed heavy damage to a residential block in the city.
In Russia, Samara governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said the Ukrainian drone strike killed four people and injured another, without releasing further details.
Cross-border drone attacks have become a defining feature of the war. In July, a wave of Ukrainian drone strikes forced Moscow to temporarily shut all its airports. Kyiv has consistently targeted oil and industrial facilities seen as vital to Russia’s war effort.
Meanwhile, Moscow has ramped up its air campaign against Ukraine. Earlier this month, the main government building in Kyiv was struck by what Ukrainian officials said was a Russian Iskander cruise missile.
Zelensky also announced plans to meet US President Donald Trump at the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York. Last month, Trump hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in a bid to broker peace, but the talks ended without an agreement.
The latest escalation coincided with rising tensions in Eastern Europe. Estonia requested urgent NATO consultations after accusing Russian jets of violating its airspace for 12 minutes before being intercepted.
Russia denied the incursion. Similar concerns were raised earlier this month by Poland and Romania, who said Russian drones had breached their airspace.
Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, launched in 2022, continues to fuel instability across the region.
