Russia hits Ukraine cities as Patriot missile shortage strains air defence

Kyiv,UPDATED: Aug 27, 2026 17:54 IST

Russia launched missiles and drones at cities across Ukraine in an overnight attack that continued into Thursday morning, with explosions heard around Kyiv. Ukrainian officials said the attacks were part of a pattern in which Moscow builds up missile stocks and then launches major strikes every few days in an attempt to wear down Ukraine's air defences.

The latest barrage came as Ukraine says it is critically short of US-made Patriot missiles needed to counter Russian ballistic missiles. Officials have also said Russia's fast-flying jet-powered drones have created another challenge more than four-and-a-half years into the full-scale war. As Russia steps up attacks, Ukraine has continued striking targets inside Russia.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces carried out a "massive" strike on targets in nine Ukrainian cities after nightfall on Wednesday. It said the targets were linked to the war effort and included industrial facilities, oil refineries, logistics hubs and port infrastructure.

Ukrainian officials said civilian areas, including apartment buildings, were also damaged. A 78-year-old woman was killed in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and another person was killed in the northern Kharkiv region. At least 14 other people were reported wounded.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media, "Russia continues to invest in missiles and in expanding its war, and that means more countermeasures are needed." Referring to pledges from European countries earlier this week to provide more air defence assistance, he added, "It is important that these (measures) are also supplemented by additional ballistic missile defence packages" through European purchases of weapons from the United States.

Zelenskyy was expected to visit neighbouring Moldova on Thursday for its national day marking its 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. Ukraine also declared independence that year. Countries in Eastern Europe that border Russia are worried that the war could spread more widely, and drones entering their airspace have added to those concerns.

Moldova's Defence Ministry said five drones breached its airspace overnight, but did not say who launched them. Ukraine's air force said its defences shot down or suppressed seven Russian ballistic missiles, though it did not say how that was done.

In Kyiv, police said four districts were hit overnight, damaging residential buildings, a school and a medical facility. No casualties were reported in the capital. In the central Poltava region, regional military administration head Vitalii Diakivnych said Russian forces struck industrial facilities and energy infrastructure.

The southern Odesa region was also hit in what regional military administration head Oleh Kiper described as a major Russian attack lasting more than seven hours. He said a 16-storey residential building, two educational facilities and a grain elevator were damaged. Odesa is a key port for Ukraine's grain and other agricultural exports.

Ukraine's state rail company, Ukrzaliznysia, said some train services were delayed by more than 17 hours after the attack.

Ukraine has also been launching hundreds of long-range drones at targets in Russia almost every night. Ukraine's General Staff said plane-launched missiles struck Russia's main and backup command posts near the eastern city of Donetsk, where Ukrainian forces are facing pressure from a Russian push.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defences shot down 267 Ukrainian drones over 14 Russian regions, the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. After earlier drone attacks that destroyed large warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia's biggest online retailer, Ukrainian drones have now also targeted Ozon, the country's second-largest e-commerce company.

Ozon first said its logistics facilities in Orenburg and Ufa had been attacked, but that neither site caught fire. It later changed its statement to say only the Ufa site had been attacked, while the Orenburg facility had been evacuated because of an alert and later resumed normal operations.

The latest exchange underlined the continuing intensity of the war, with Russia pressing missile and drone attacks across Ukraine while Ukraine responded with strikes on military and commercial targets inside Russia.

With PTI Inputs

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