Russian aerial attacks struck apartment buildings in Ukraine's Kyiv and Odesa regions overnight and Wednesday morning, wounding at least eight civilians, according to local officials. The Ukrainian air force reported that these two regions bore the brunt of the latest attacks.
The increased aerial warfare occurs as the conflict enters its fifth year with a largely deadlocked front line in eastern and southern Ukraine. Efforts by the United States to broker a peace settlement have thus far not yielded a clear path to peace.
Late Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy exchanged threats regarding their potential next steps. Zelenskyy warned foreign airlines that Russian airspace is becoming unsafe due to Ukrainian long-range drone attacks, suggesting that "Russian airspace will effectively be closing." He stated that this military pressure aims to compel Russia to enter peace negotiations.
In response, Putin accused Zelenskyy of "state terrorism" and declared, "We don't negotiate with terrorists." Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan, Putin also addressed reports of Ukrainian military use of British-made drones to strike targets within Russia. When questioned about whether Russia would target British military facilities if the U.K. continued to supply Ukraine with weaponry, Putin declined to rule out the possibility, calling it a "military secret."
European officials are reportedly weighing their response to what they describe as Moscow's campaign of continental sabotage and disruption intended to diminish support for Ukraine. Germany attributed an attempted drone attack laden with explosives at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month to Russia.
Ukraine's air force reported that Russia launched 174 attack drones, including approximately 87 jet-powered drones, along with two ballistic missiles and two plane-launched missiles at Ukraine overnight. Officials in the Odesa region reported that an attack damaged a 24-story residential building, destroying apartments on several floors and wounding eight people, including a child. Office buildings and two educational facilities in Odesa were also damaged, according to Serhii Lysak, head of the Odesa city military administration. The barrage also caused a power outage that disrupted electric-powered public transport.
In the Kyiv region, a man and a woman were wounded by shrapnel in morning attacks, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional military administration. This marked the seventh consecutive day Kyiv experienced attacks, though the latest barrage was less intense than previous ones. An assault also started a fire at a warehouse, and an educational facility and a medical practice were damaged in Kyiv.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that Russian air defenses destroyed 130 Ukrainian drones overnight over 11 Russian regions, as well as the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and the Black Sea. Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone attacks in Russia's Belgorod border region killed two people and wounded 16, according to acting Governor Alexander Shuvayev, who reported 140 Ukrainian strikes on the region in 24 hours.
Ukraine's domestically developed long-range drones have repeatedly targeted Russia's oil sector and online retailer warehouses, aiming to impact the Russian economy and make the public feel the effects of the war.
Western analysts and officials suggest that Russia's efforts to advance deeper into Ukraine have lost momentum. The Institute for the Study of War reported late Tuesday that Russian advances in August were a fraction of Moscow's gains during the same month the previous year. The think tank also stated that Russia's spring-summer offensive has failed to breach Ukraine's front-line defenses, with "Russian gains remain slow and limited."