Russia launches massive drone and missile strike on Ukraine

A broad overnight attack used drones and missiles to strike across Ukraine, hitting civilian and energy targets and drawing international condemnation.

Russia launches massive drone and missile strike on Ukraine

Ukraine’s air force says Russia fired 614 air attack munitions overnight into Thursday, including 574 drones and 40 missiles. Of those, 546 drones and 31 missiles were intercepted or suppressed, with impacts reported at 11 locations around the country. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the assault a massive combined air strike and said civilian and energy infrastructure were among the targets.

In Mukachevo, a city near the border with Hungary and Slovakia, a major American electronics manufacturer was hit. Officials say the site was civilian and not related to defense. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the choice of target as telling, noting the attack hit a familiar consumer goods maker and calling for strong sanctions and pressure to prompt a real end to the war. In western Lviv, at least one person was killed and three injured by the strikes. NATO jets were scrambled in response, with Polish airspace authorities noting long range Russian strikes and the presence of allied fighters in the region. Russia says it has shot down Ukrainian drones and that an energy facility in the Voronezh region was damaged by a falling drone; a unit at the Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant was temporarily disconnected from the grid.

The attack marks a clear escalation in Russia’s use of large scale drone swarms and missiles at a time when international attention is on diplomacy. It also highlights how civilian targets, including a major American owned plant, have become a focal point of wartime strategy, raising questions about the boundaries of war and the risk to global supply chains. The responses show a brittle balance: allied air defenses in NATO airspace, public calls for tougher sanctions, and a war that tests the patience of partners who must decide how far they are willing to go to deter new strikes. The pattern in August suggests a shift toward more sustained pressure rather than isolated incidents, with energy infrastructure and cross border strikes adding a layer of economic risk to the human toll. These developments push the fight beyond battlefield gains and into the realm of global economics and political resolve, where the next moves may hinge on the willingness of Moscow to change course and the readiness of the West to respond.

Highlights

The conflict remains unpredictable as international options for deterrence and diplomacy unfold.