Russia launches fresh wave of attacks targeting Ukrainian cities

Published on 16/07/2025 – 13:41 GMT+2•Updated
16:13

Russian forces launched a fresh wave of attacks on several Ukrainian cities overnight on Wednesday, with at least 15 people injured in one of the strikes.

Russia launched 400 Shahed and decoy drones, as well as one ballistic missile, through the night, the Ukrainian air force said.

The strikes targeted Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih, Vinnytsia in the west and Odesa in the south.

“Russia does not change its strategy,” Zelenskyy said. “To effectively counter this terror, we need a systemic strengthening of defence: more air defence, more interceptors, and more resolve so that Russia feels our response.”

A barrage of Iranian-made Shaheds was fired in the early hours on Wednesday, targeting the Vinnytsia region.

Ukraine’s Air Force says it intercepted 18 of them, but one struck civilian infrastructure.

At least two hits on civilian buildings were recorded in the region. Eight people were injured in the attack, five of whom suffered severe burns, with at least two in critical condition.

One of the victims underwent surgery after suffering 50% burns to their body.

Nine private homes in the village of Pysarivka suffered varying degrees of damage. Many of the properties saw roofs caved in, blown-out windows and partially collapsed walls. Electricity and gas supply systems also sustained damage.

Strikes on Zaporizhzhia

The southern city of Zaporizhzhia was also targeted by Moscow. At least 30 apartments were reported damaged after a barrage of drones struck at least one district in the region.

Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said there were no casualties following the overnight strikes, but did note that several civilians sustained minor injuries during evacuations.

Earlier on Tuesday, Zaporizhzhia was the target of more than 400 Russian strikes on 14 settlements targeting everything from residential complexes to energy sites.

Kramatorsk also came under attack on Wednesday morning. A series of explosions were heard around 1 am local time.

One of the drones struck a multi-story residential building, causing a fire. The blaze engulfed part of the apartments, damaging multiple units.

Emergency services quickly arrived on the scene and were able to contain the fire not long after it broke out, according to the head of Kramatorsk City Military Administration, Oleksandr Honcharenko.

The attacks are part of the Kremlin’s latest escalations of its aerial campaign against civilian areas and come ahead of a 2 September deadline set by US President Donald Trump for Russia to reach a peace deal in its all-out war in Ukraine, which is now well into its fourth year.

Trump threatened to impose tariffs of “about 100%” on Moscow, in addition to secondary tariffs, and 100% tariffs on any country purchasing Russian energy, if it fails to reach a peace agreement within 50 days.

Additional sources • AP