Russian forces resumed their drone barrage of Ukraine’s Kyiv region on Friday, hitting more than a dozen apartment buildings and storage depots in a second straight day of aerial attacks, officials said.
These prolonged air raids in Kyiv on Thursday effectively locked down the Ukrainian capital for 15 hours, severely disrupting civilian life and choking the economy, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry stated. Even longer air raid alerts are a daily reality in regions closer to the front line, the ministry added.
In the Kyiv region, Russian strikes damaged 14 warehouses, 16 private homes, three apartment buildings, and 16 vehicles, according to Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv regional military administration. A second drone struck one location after emergency crews arrived, a tactic described by the military as a "double tap" targeting first responders. The attacks killed one person and wounded two others.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed its forces struck a warehouse in the Kyiv region that stores Ukraine’s Flamingo cruise missiles and fuel for rocket boosters. Ukrainian officials did not immediately confirm this claim, and recent strikes have impacted numerous warehouses across Kyiv and the wider region, including facilities storing books, food, and other consumer goods.
Andrii Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, stated that Russia is launching small numbers of fast-moving jet-powered drones in waves in an attempt to exhaust air defenses and the population.
Kyiv region authorities reported that air quality worsened due to the attacks and warned residents in some areas to keep their windows closed and limit outdoor activities.
In the southern Kherson region, where Russian forces control approximately 70% of the territory, officials urged tens of thousands of residents to relocate to safer areas due to the potential for prolonged power and heating outages this winter. Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration, warned that Kherson "may be without electricity and heat not for hours or days, but for a long time."
Russia has intensified attacks on critical infrastructure in the Kherson region, with 170 glide bombs dropped since July 1, according to Prokudin. Over the past two months, Russia has also launched more than 1,700 attack drones, increasingly using jet-powered Shahed and Gerbera drones against critical infrastructure.
Authorities in Kherson plan to offer assistance with evacuation, transportation, resettlement, and social support for those who choose to leave.
The attacks are also impacting Ukraine's economy. The Ministry of Economy is revising its GDP growth forecast downward for 2026 due to the impact of Russian attacks, which have restricted exports, particularly grain through Black Sea ports. The anticipated growth for the current year, initially around 1.3%, is now expected to be lowered to 0.8%. Further growth is being limited by damage to energy and logistics infrastructure and port blockades.
Ukraine's air force reported that Russia fired 164 drones at Ukraine overnight. Separately, a Russian glide bomb attack on the northern Sumy region killed a 61-year-old man and wounded seven other people, according to Oleh Hryhorov, head of the Sumy regional military administration.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that its air defenses shot down 512 Ukrainian drones over 18 Russian regions, as well as over illegally annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.
Ukrainian forces reported striking the Slavneft-YANOS refinery in Russia’s Yaroslavl region overnight, causing a fire. The plant produces gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, fuel oil, lubricants, and other petroleum products. A Ukrainian drone attack in the Yaroslavl region on Friday morning killed one person and wounded 27 others, according to Governor Mikhail Yevrayev. In the Moscow region, a drone hit a supermarket, damaging it and shattering windows in a nearby clinic. In Sevastopol, Crimea, a five-story residential building was significantly damaged by a drone, and four people were wounded.