Russian forces renewed their drone barrage on Ukraine’s Kyiv region Friday, striking more than a dozen apartment buildings and storage depots, according to officials.
The aerial attacks on Thursday had led to prolonged air raids that effectively shut down the Ukrainian capital for 15 hours, disrupting civilian life and the economy, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry stated. Similar, or longer, air raid alerts are a daily occurrence in areas closer to the front lines.
Russian drone and missile attacks have also targeted Ukraine's power grid in what Ukrainian officials describe as an annual strategy to "weaponize winter." In the southern Kherson region, where glide bombs forced a heat and power plant to shut down the previous day, officials are anticipating a winter of extended power outages and have advised residents to relocate if possible.
In the Kyiv region, the strikes damaged 14 warehouses, 16 private houses, three apartment buildings, and 16 vehicles, reported Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv regional military administration. The State Emergency Service noted that a second drone hit one site after emergency crews had arrived, a tactic referred to by the military as a "double tap" strike aimed at first responders. The attacks resulted in one fatality and two injuries.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed its forces struck a warehouse in the Kyiv region overnight that contained Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missiles and rocket fuel. Ukrainian officials did not immediately confirm this claim, and it could not be independently verified. Recent strikes have impacted numerous warehouses across Kyiv and the surrounding region, including facilities storing books, food, and other consumer goods.
The attacks continued into daylight hours, prompting Tkachenko to advise residents to remain in safe locations and adhere to air raid alerts. Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, stated on social media that Russia is deploying small numbers of fast-moving jet-powered drones in waves in an attempt to overwhelm the capital's air defenses and exhaust the population.
Kyiv region authorities reported a decline in air quality due to the attacks and cautioned residents in certain areas to keep windows closed and limit outdoor activities. Additionally, four Russian glide bombs destroyed a sorting center belonging to the postal service Nova Poshta in the northern Sumy region, and a drone struck one of its depots in the Kyiv region.
In Kherson, a region approximately 70% under Russian control, officials have urged tens of thousands of residents to move to safer areas due to the potential for prolonged power and heating outages this winter. Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration, stated that Kherson could face extended periods without electricity and heat and that preparations for this scenario should begin immediately.
Prokudin also noted an increase in Russian attacks on critical infrastructure in the region, with 170 glide bombs dropped on Kherson since July 1, surpassing the number from the first six months of the year. He added that Russia has launched over 1,700 attack drones in the past two months, increasingly using jet-powered Shahed and Gerbera drones against critical infrastructure, with smaller drone attacks rising to 6,500 in the past week alone. Authorities are offering assistance with evacuation, transportation, resettlement, and social support for those who choose to leave.
Ukraine's air force reported that Russia fired 164 drones at Ukraine overnight, though it did not mention missiles, which are typically part of Russia's aerial assaults. In the northern Sumy region, a Russian glide bomb attack killed a 61-year-old man and wounded seven others, according to Oleh Hryhorov, head of the Sumy regional military administration.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that its air defenses intercepted 512 Ukrainian drones over 18 Russian regions, the Crimean Peninsula, and the Black Sea overnight. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces targeted the Slavneft-YANOS refinery in Russia’s Yaroslavl region, causing a fire, according to Ukraine’s General Staff. This refinery produces gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, and other petroleum products.
A Ukrainian drone attack on Friday morning in the Yaroslavl region resulted in one death and 27 injuries, Governor Mikhail Yevrayev reported, with ten people wounded by falling drone debris that struck a bus. The governor indicated that "industrial infrastructure," residential areas, and unidentified retail facilities were impacted.
In the Moscow region, a drone struck a supermarket, causing damage and shattering windows in a nearby outpatient clinic, according to Governor Andrei Vorobyov. In Sevastopol, a five-story residential building sustained significant damage from a drone, with four people wounded, as reported by the Russian-installed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev.