A Russian drone struck a residential building in eastern Ukraine early Saturday, killing three people and injuring 12 others as part of a widespread missile and drone assault targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, officials said.
The overnight barrage hit multiple regions, including Dnipro, where the nine-story building caught fire and several apartments were destroyed, according to emergency services. Two children were among the injured. Another person, an energy worker, was killed in Kharkiv, said regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 458 drones and 45 missiles, including 32 ballistic ones. Ukrainian forces intercepted 406 drones and nine missiles, but 25 locations were hit. Power was cut in several regions to protect the grid, Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk said on Facebook.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted military and energy facilities that support Ukraine’s war effort. Moscow has continued near-daily assaults on energy sites as Kyiv retaliates with long-range drone attacks on Russian oil refineries. Both sides are trying to weaken each other’s energy supplies while U.S.-led peace efforts remain stalled.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said major energy facilities in Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Poltava regions were damaged, adding that teams were working to quickly restore electricity, heating, and water.
Meanwhile, Russia said it had repelled a “massive” Ukrainian drone attack overnight on the Volgograd region, where power outages occurred but no injuries were reported. Two people were injured in Saratov after a Ukrainian drone blew out windows in an apartment block, local officials said.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to stop Russian oil exports to Europe, following weeks of Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy targets. “We will find a way to ensure there is no Russian oil in Europe,” he said. His remarks came after Hungary received an exemption from new U.S. sanctions on Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil.
While most EU countries have sharply reduced Russian energy imports since the 2022 invasion, Hungary and Slovakia continue to receive oil via pipeline. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, insists his country has no alternative supply sources.
Meanwhile, fighting around the eastern city of Pokrovsk has intensified, with both Kyiv and Moscow seeking to show progress ahead of renewed diplomatic efforts. Russia claims its troops have surrounded Pokrovsk and nearby Myrnohrad, and also encircled Ukrainian forces near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region.
Ukrainian officials acknowledged that the situation in Pokrovsk remains critical but denied claims of encirclement, saying battles are ongoing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin maintains that his troops are close to victory and insists that Ukraine must surrender the Donbas region, including Donetsk and Luhansk, as a condition for peace.