Russia and Ukraine trade drone barrages against infrastructure and energy sites

Russia and Ukraine launched waves of overnight drone strikes targeting supply hubs, power infrastructure, and industrial facilities, leaving casualties and damage across both countries, according to officials and regional reports.

Moscow's Defence Ministry announced on Thursday that its forces used unmanned aerial vehicles to strike a Nova Poshta delivery terminal in the Kharkiv region village of Novyi Korotych. The ministry further claimed hits against a 330-kilovolt power substation in the Dnipropetrovsk region, alongside an attack on a dry cargo vessel alleged to be transporting military supplies roughly 52 kilometres southwest of Odesa in the Black Sea. Ukrainian authorities did not immediately verify the claims concerning the ship or the delivery depot.

Regional officials across Ukraine reported widespread disruption and casualties from the barrage. Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov stated that Russian forces directed more than 80 drones across the city and 17 local communities over a single day, leaving six people wounded, including a child. In the Bucha district near Kyiv, another logistics facility was hit, causing major blazes and injuring one individual.

Further east in the Donetsk region, Governor Vadym Filashkin said Russian bombardments on Wednesday killed four civilians and injured five. Fatalities were recorded in Serhiivka and Yasnohirka, where local reports indicated two women lost their lives during an assault involving glide bombs.

Across the border, Ukrainian drones conducted large-scale counterstrikes inside Russia. Ryazan Governor Pavel Malkov reported that more than 200 drones targeted the area, roughly 200 kilometres southeast of Moscow. Malkov confirmed that intercepted debris ignited blazes across multiple industrial complexes, severed electrical cables, cut local electricity services, and injured one person. Power was later brought back online, and emergency crews managed to put out the blazes.

While regional authorities withheld the names of the impacted industrial facilities, verified imagery reviewed by independent outlet Astra revealed fires burning at the local Rosneft-owned oil refinery, which ranks among the largest in the country. The strikes also blew out windows at an area school, forcing authorities to cancel lessons.

The reciprocal attacks reflect a broader escalation against critical infrastructure as freezing weather sets in. Continued Russian barrages against Ukrainian energy facilities have prompted widespread blackouts in Kyiv, where municipal rules delay central heating until temperatures fall to minus 5 degrees Celsius for five consecutive days. At the same time, renewed Ukrainian strikes on Russian fuel refining sites have triggered occasional regional supply runs at filling stations.