Russia Launches Record Drone Barrage on Ukraine, Striking Cities Across the Country
Ukraine is counting the toll after Russia unleashed its largest drone assault since the start of the war, nearly 1,000 drones launched within a single day. Authorities said the barrage targeted cities across the nation, leaving several dead and dozens wounded in an attack that stretched from the east to the country’s western regions, according to BBC News.
According to Ukrainian officials, more than 400 drones were launched Tuesday afternoon alone, hitting major population centers in broad daylight, an unusually aggressive move. Hours earlier, a separate overnight strike killed at least five people.
In Lviv, one of the country’s western cultural landmarks, Mayor Andriy Sadovyi reported 22 people injured and warned that the number was expected to rise. The regional governor, Maksym Kozytskyi, said the city’s 16th-century Bernardine monastery, a UNESCO heritage site, had been damaged. Video shared by local authorities showed flames consuming the roof of nearby buildings.
Other western cities, Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, and Ternopil were also hit. In Ivano-Frankivsk, regional head Svitlana Onyshchuk said two people were killed and four injured, including a six-year-old child. Damage was reported to several city buildings and even a maternity hospital. In Vinnytsia, one death and 11 injuries were confirmed.
Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force, said that drones entered the country from the north, “moving in columns.” He called the simultaneous wave of day and night bombardments “one of the largest attacks within a 24 hour period.”
While western Ukraine has generally seen fewer strikes compared with the war-scarred east, Tuesday’s assault showed that no region remains beyond reach.
The conflict, now entering its fifth year, shows little sign of slowing. On Tuesday, Russia also reported a Ukrainian drone strike on its side of the border killing one man and wounding 13 others in the Kursk region.
