Russia and Ukraine exchanged large-scale drone attacks overnight and into Friday, with strikes hitting areas far from the front lines and causing casualties, damage and fires on both sides.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU, on Volodymyrska Street in central Kiev, directly targeting the office of the agency’s chief.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said five people were injured, while heavy black smoke rose from the area near St. Sophia Cathedral. Recent reports confirmed the strike as part of an intensified series of Russian attacks on the Ukrainian capital.
In the southern Odessa region, one person was killed and five others were injured in overnight Russian strikes, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said.
The attacks damaged civilian infrastructure, including administrative buildings and private and official vehicles, he said.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 121 drones and one missile, claiming 103 aerial targets were suppressed across the country.
Ukraine strikes Russian energy infrastructure
Meanwhile, Russian authorities reported a major Ukrainian drone assault on the Black Sea resort city of Sochi and the nearby Sirius federal territory.
Falling drone debris sparked a fire at an oil depot, according to the Krasnodar regional operational headquarters.
No casualties were reported initially, while authorities said residential buildings and other structures were damaged.
The Russian defence ministry said its air defences destroyed 490 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory, Moscow-annexed Crimea and the Black Sea during the overnight attack.
Russia also claimed its forces struck what it described as Ukrainian military logistics and energy facilities, including a logistics centre in the Kiev region, vessels allegedly carrying military supplies at the Yuzhny port, and a fuel terminal at Chornomorsk.
The claims could not be independently verified.
