Russian drones and missiles killed four people across Ukraine on Wednesday, with strikes hitting Kyiv for a second consecutive day. The attacks came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Turkey on the sidelines of the NATO summit, underscoring the ongoing diplomatic and military pressures of the four-year war.
In Kyiv, explosions were heard shortly after midnight, before air raid alerts could be issued. One woman was killed and two others injured in the early morning attack, according to city administration head Tymur Tkachenko. The State Emergency Service reported damage to several administrative buildings, warehouses, a garage complex, and multiple trams. Hours later, a second Russian drone struck the Desnianskyi district, killing another person and injuring six. In total, eight people were wounded in the capital.
In Kharkiv, overnight strikes killed two and wounded 20, Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported. In Zaporizhzhia, a Russian guided bomb injured a man and a woman Tuesday night, said regional head Ivan Fedorov.
Ukraine's air force stated that Russia launched 169 long-range strike drones and seven missiles, including five ballistic missiles. Air defenses shot down or jammed 139 drones, and two anti-radar missiles missed their targets. All five ballistic missiles and 20 drones struck 15 locations, highlighting the continued strain on Ukraine's air defenses.
Russia's Defense Ministry claimed it struck an arms industry facility in Kyiv, hitting a plant that manufactured components for Flamingo cruise missiles and a facility assembling mid- and long-range drones. The ministry also said air defenses downed 415 Ukrainian drones from late Tuesday to early Wednesday. In Russia's Saratov region, Governor Roman Busargin said a Ukrainian drone attack killed one person, injured several, and damaged unspecified industrial facilities.
Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian long-range attacks reached the Saratov, Tatarstan, and Bashkortostan regions deep inside Russia, as well as the Voronezh region near the border. The strikes hit refineries in Saratov and Tatarstan, the latest in a series of Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities that have worsened fuel shortages. In Tatarstan, Nizhnekamsk Mayor Radmir Belyayev said drones damaged industrial facilities and injured several people, though he did not specify the facilities.
In Crimea, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, Moscow-installed head Sergei Aksyonov announced restrictions on civilian fuel sales would continue, with gasoline unavailable on certain days. Aksyonov said many decisions to resolve the crisis could not be disclosed publicly, adding that he was giving regular updates to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "The fuel supply situation remains strained and will continue to be so for some time," he said.
Russia's state-controlled Gazprom said Ukrainian drones attacked the Krasnodarskaya compressor station serving the Blue Stream natural gas pipeline to Turkey late Tuesday, calling it an attempt to disrupt Russian gas shipments. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov labeled the attack "dangerous" against "the critical international energy system" and expressed hope that Turkey and other nations would warn Kyiv. In Rostov region, Governor Yuri Slyusar said Ukrainian drones damaged two oil tankers in Taganrog Bay, injuring two crew members. The tankers were empty, so no oil spill occurred.
The strikes come as Putin has conceded no Ukraine deal with Trump, contradicting earlier Kremlin claims, and amid unprecedented domestic backlash as the war strains Russia.
