Russian strikes on Ukraine kill four and injure 28, authorities say

Overnight attacks leave civilians dead and infrastructure damaged across Ukraine

Poinews.com – Four people were killed and at least 28 others injured after Russian attacks struck several parts of Ukraine overnight into Saturday, with drones, aerial bombs and other weapons hitting residential areas, energy infrastructure and commercial sites.

The deadliest damage was recorded in the eastern Dnipro region, where four people died and 22 were hurt. A separate drone strike in Vinnytsia, in west-central Ukraine, wounded six people after a high-rise residential building was hit.

Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, said Russian forces launched more than 20 attacks across three districts in the Dnipro area. The operation involved drones and guided aerial bombs, leaving a trail of destruction in both urban and smaller residential communities.

Homes, shops and vehicles hit in Dnipro region

Infrastructure in the city of Dnipro was damaged during the strikes. In the Synelnykivskyi district, private houses, apartment blocks, shops and cars were destroyed or damaged. A private home in the Nikopol district was also affected.

The breadth of the strikes illustrated the pressure faced by communities far from the immediate front line. Civilian homes and everyday businesses remain vulnerable when attacks involve long-range drones and aerial bombs that can reach cities and towns across the country.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the violence extended beyond Dnipropetrovsk region. In Vinnytsia, a Russian drone struck a tall apartment building, adding to the number of people injured overnight. In northeastern Kharkiv, a home-improvement hypermarket was targeted.

“In Kharkiv, the Russians first struck a home improvement hypermarket and then carried out a cynical double-tap strike on the emergency services that arrived at the scene,”

Zelenskyy said emergency personnel were among those injured in Kharkiv, though he did not specify how many responders had been wounded. The second strike came after rescue teams arrived at the initial site, increasing the danger for those attempting to help civilians and contain damage.

Energy sites also targeted

The overnight attacks also reached Ukraine’s energy system. Zelenskyy said a thermal power plant and electrical substations were among the facilities hit. Damage to these sites can affect power distribution and complicate efforts to maintain essential services, particularly when repair crews must work under the continuing threat of air attacks.

Ukraine has faced repeated strikes on its energy network during the wider war, making the protection and restoration of power facilities a continuing concern for authorities and local communities. The latest wave combined attacks on civilian buildings with strikes on infrastructure that supports homes, hospitals, businesses and public services.

Zelenskyy said Russia had used around 1,600 guided aerial bombs, 48 missiles and nearly 2,300 attack drones against Ukraine during the past week. The figures underline the scale of the sustained aerial campaign and the challenge facing Ukrainian air defences across a large territory.

Ukraine says it struck Russian military targets

Ukrainian forces launched retaliatory strikes on Saturday and overnight, targeting Russian military assets that included radar stations, command posts and locations where Russian personnel were concentrated, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

Military planners view radar systems as significant targets because they help detect aircraft, missiles and unmanned systems. Disrupting those networks can reduce visibility over certain areas and give Ukrainian forces more room to use drones.

“Striking radars creates gaps in the enemy’s radar coverage and expands the Defence Forces of Ukraine’s ability to employ unmanned systems at all levels,”

The exchange of long-range strikes reflects a conflict in which drones have become central to reconnaissance, communications, air defence and attacks on infrastructure. Both sides use unmanned systems over long distances, while civilians increasingly experience the consequences of attacks directed at cities and essential facilities.

Starlink connection restored, Zelenskyy says

The attacks came as Kyiv said it had restored a stable connection to Elon Musk’s Starlink network following a dispute with the United States. Zelenskyy said the improvement began overnight and that connection speeds had recovered by Saturday morning.

“The speeds are now where they need to be. The restoration began overnight, and by this morning, speeds were already sufficient,”

He stressed the importance of the service for operations near the front, where reliable communications can support logistics and help Ukraine respond to jet-powered Shahed drones.

“This matters: for our frontline logistics, for defending Ukraine against jet-powered ‘shaheds.’”

Starlink and its military-oriented version, Starshield, have become important tools for Ukrainian forces during Russia’s invasion. They provide resilient internet access and communications in battlefield conditions, where conventional networks can be disrupted, damaged or unavailable.

For residents of Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Kharkiv and other affected areas, however, the immediate impact of the latest attacks is measured in lives lost, injuries, damaged homes and disrupted daily life. Emergency workers and repair crews now face the task of helping survivors, assessing destruction and restoring damaged infrastructure while the risk of further strikes remains.