Russia launches massive strikes on nine Ukrainian cities; Kyiv reports downing 258 drones

Overnight barrage across Ukraine

Russia bombarded cities across Ukraine with missiles and drones in an overnight attack that extended into Thursday, August 27, 2026, according to the Russian Defence Ministry, which said its forces carried out a "massive" strike on nine Ukrainian cities. The ministry described the targets as military-related, including industrial facilities, oil refineries, logistics hubs and port infrastructure. Explosions echoed around Kyiv through the morning, and commuters went to work to the boom of air defences firing at waves of drones, as reported by Reuters and cited in The Guardian.

The Ukrainian military said it shot down seven ballistic missiles and 258 drones during the assault. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said: "Overnight, Russia carried out a massive strike against Ukraine, targeting ports, grain storage, energy, industry and other infrastructure with ballistic and hypersonic missiles and combat drones."

Civilian toll and damage

Civilian areas, including apartment buildings, suffered damage. The barrage killed a 78-year-old woman in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and another person in the northern Kharkiv region, with at least 14 people reported wounded elsewhere, Ukrainian officials said. In Kharkiv, one person was killed and two were injured in a lunchtime attack on a shopping centre, said regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.

In Kyiv, four districts were hit during the night, damaging residential buildings, a school and a medical facility, though no casualties were reported, city police said. Chocolate firm Roshen, founded by former president Petro Poroshenko, said one of its warehouses outside Kyiv was destroyed. The strikes also targeted a Kyiv-area retail distribution centre and a shipment hub for a toy company, their chief executives said. Russian drones hit three major distribution centers, destroying depots belonging to a toy store chain and a confectionery company, and damaging another run by an electronics retailer, according to The Hindu.

Russian strikes also hit industrial sites, energy facilities and other infrastructure in the central Poltava and southern Odesa regions, as well as the south-eastern city of Kryvyi Rih, officials said. The southern Odesa region came under a major Russian attack lasting more than seven hours, according to Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration. Some trains were delayed by more than 17 hours following the attack, according to Ukrainian state rail company Ukrzaliznytsia.

Power plant hit in Kherson

A Russian attack on a thermal power plant in Ukraine's southern city of Kherson resulted in the loss of all of its generating capacity, state oil and gas company Naftogaz said. "The Russians struck a purely civilian facility that provides heat to a significant portion of Kherson's residential buildings," said the company's CEO, Sergiy Fedorenko. Four powerful glide bombs destroyed generating equipment at the combined heat and power plant, forcing it to shut down, its operator said. Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin called for people to leave the city if they could, "especially families with children and elderly people." Prokudin warned that Kherson may find itself without electricity or heating for an extended period, according to The Guardian.

Regional spillover and Ukrainian countermeasures

Six Russian drones crossed into the airspace of Ukraine's neighbour Moldova, local authorities said, prompting President Maia Sandu to "strongly condemn this intimidation." One was found on Moldovan territory. Moldova's Ministry of Defence said five drones breached its airspace overnight, but it did not specify who fired them, as reported by The Hindu.

Ukraine's General Staff said that plane-launched missiles hit Russia's main and backup command posts near the eastern city of Donetsk, according to The Hindu. The Russian Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 267 Ukrainian drones over 14 Russian regions, the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media: "Russia continues to invest in missiles and in expanding its war, and that means more countermeasures are needed." He noted promises earlier this week by European countries to provide more air defence assistance and emphasized that these measures "are also supplemented by additional ballistic missile defense packages" through European purchases of weapons from the United States.

The Guardian reported that a Russian serviceman was killed by a car bomb in St Petersburg on Thursday, and his wife was injured, as officials said.

Economic strains and European response

The Guardian's Peter Beaumont wrote about how Russia is having to import diesel and gasoline because of damage to its petroleum industry; Russia bought 200,000 barrels of gasoline from Turkey and signed a deal with a refinery in Kazakhstan. Fuel imports from Belarus to Russia increased by a factor of 141 in June 2026 compared with June 2025, according to The Guardian.

The Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden called on Thursday for the EU to look again at using frozen Russian central bank assets to finance Ukraine, as reported by The Guardian. The EU has so far failed to agree on tapping about €200bn in frozen Russian assets, partly because Belgium, which holds most of the assets, objected on legal grounds.

In a separate development, Slovak prosecutors said an arson attack planned by three suspects in eastern Slovakia targeted drone maker Skyeton. A 26-year-old Latvian was detained in Hamburg, and a Latvian and a Ukrainian were detained in Slovakia, according to The Guardian.

Perspectives

Russia: The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces carried out a "massive" strike on nine Ukrainian cities, describing the targets as military-related, including industrial facilities, oil refineries, logistics hubs and port infrastructure. It insisted only war-related targets were attacked, though civilian areas suffered damage.

Ukraine: Ukrainian officials, including Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, characterized the strikes as a "massive" assault on civilian and energy infrastructure, and highlighted the need for additional air defence systems to counter Russian attacks. The Ukrainian military reported shooting down seven ballistic missiles and 258 drones, and Ukraine's General Staff said it struck Russian command posts near Donetsk.