Nearly 190 Russian Drones and Missiles Strike Ukraine Overnight, Kill Five and Hit Energy Infrastructure

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia launched nearly 190 attack drones and ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight into Wednesday, killing five people, including a child, wounding 14 and targeting energy infrastructure in Kyiv and the surrounding region as winter approaches.

In a Telegram post Wednesday morning, Zelensky said the main target was energy infrastructure in Kyiv and the Kyiv region. Separately, Ukraine’s Air Force, as quoted by Ukrainian outlets including Suspilne, said the attack involved 188 strike drones plus missile launches. The Air Force’s preliminary account said air defenses shot down or otherwise suppressed roughly 155 to 160 drones and about five missiles, though Zelensky said some ballistic missiles were intercepted and there were still direct hits.

The strikes damaged residential buildings as well as nonresidential sites, Ukrainian officials said, while repair crews worked to restore electricity and water where service was disrupted. Ukrainian media, citing local emergency and regional authorities, reported fires and damage at warehouse and other nonresidential sites in Kyiv, where at least one person was killed in a warehouse strike. In the Kyiv region, local reporting said rescuers recovered the body of a child from the rubble of a destroyed private house in Vyshhorod, in line with Zelensky’s statement that a child was among the dead. Zelensky said the nationwide toll stood at five dead and 14 wounded, but those figures were preliminary and could change as rescue work continued.

Zelensky said critical infrastructure was struck in the Zhytomyr, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad and Rivne regions. He added that there was also damage in the Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson and Cherkasy regions, underscoring the breadth of the overnight assault beyond the capital area.

The attack fits a pattern seen repeatedly since late 2022, with Russia carrying out large drone-and-missile barrages against Ukraine’s energy system ahead of winter, when damage to power and water networks can have wider humanitarian consequences. The use of drones together with missiles is also consistent with broader Russian efforts to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses. Zelensky used Wednesday’s post to thank partners for recent air-defense support and to argue that Ukraine needs more interceptor missiles as colder weather nears. Rescue and repair work was still underway Wednesday, and officials said casualty figures could be updated.