The Ukrainian military said it shot down seven ballistic missiles and 258 drones as Russia carried out a lengthy attack that extended over Wednesday night and well into Thursday. “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,” said the foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha. Commuters went to work in Kyiv to the boom of air defences firing at waves of drones, Reuters reported. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that Kyiv had received a small batch of US-made Patriot interceptors that can shoot down ballistic missiles.
In Kharkiv, one person was killed and two were injured in a lunchtime attack on a shopping centre, said the regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov. The strikes also targeted a Kyiv-area retail distribution centre and a shipment hub for a toy company, their chief executives said. Chocolate firm Roshen, founded by former president Petro Poroshenko, said one of its warehouses outside Kyiv was destroyed. 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.
