KYIV: Russia unleashed a major drone and missile attack on Ukraine after midnight on Friday, killing three people, injuring over 50, and damaging infrastructure and residential buildings.
Despite diplomatic efforts to find ways to end the war, the fighting has intensified in recent months.
In a statement on the Telegram app, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched around 580 drones and 40 missiles targeting infrastructure, civilian manufacturing companies and residential areas in different parts of the country.
Air defences shot down 552 of the drones and 31 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said.
“Russia is terrorising civilians. All night, Ukraine was under a massive attack by Russia,” Zelensky said. “Every such strike is not a military necessity, but a deliberate strategy by Russia to terrorise civilians and destroy our infrastructure.”
Zelensky says he’ll meet Trump at UN next week
Russia denies targeting Ukrainian civilians.
President Zelensky said he would meet his US counterpart Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week.
“I will hold a meeting with the President of the United States,” Zelensky said, adding he would discuss security guarantees for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia during the talks with Trump.
In the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, a missile with a cluster munition hit a residential apartment building, Zelensky said.
One person was killed, and 26 people were injured in Dnipro. Two people were also killed in the Chernihiv region in the north and the Khmelnytskyi region in the west of the country.
“I could hear the Shahed (drone) getting closer and closer. I understood it was flying towards us. My child and I were very frightened,” Yulia Chystokletova, a resident of Kyiv, said.
“It should not be happening in the 21st century. We are all people. Agree... sit down at the negotiating table.”
Kyiv faces increasing pressure in eastern Ukraine, where Russian troops are keeping up their grinding advance, devastating villages and towns and claiming new territory.
Both sides step up drone attacks
To hit Ukrainian cities far from the frontline, Russia appears to have changed its tactics and now launches swarms of hundreds of drones in one strike, compared with dozens early in the war. Ukraine typically responds with drone strikes of its own, aiming to reach deeper into Russian territory, hitting refineries, fuel depots, and logistics hubs.
Ukraine hit two Russian oil refineries in the Saratov and Samara regions in attacks overnight, causing explosions and fires.
“Regarding refineries: we have drones, we know how to produce them. It all depends on the number of drones we use per day,” President Zelensky told reporters.
“As soon as the number of drones is comparable to that of the Russians, they will feel it in terms of fuel shortages and the number of queues at petrol stations.”
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had successfully carried out strikes with high-precision weapons on Ukrainian military-industrial facilities overnight.
Polish and allied aircraft were also deployed early on Saturday to ensure the safety of Polish airspace after some of Russia’s air strikes targeted western Ukraine near the border with Nato member Poland, the Polish military command said.
Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2025
