KYIV: Russian forces launched a wave of jet-powered drone attacks on Kyiv early Friday, striking two gas stations and killing two people as Moscow intensified attacks on Ukraine’s civilian and economic infrastructure, officials said.
The strikes also wounded at least 12 people in the capital, including a 12-year-old boy, while attacks across several Ukrainian regions killed additional civilians. The latest assault marked another escalation in Russia’s growing use of faster, jet-powered drones against Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attacks were becoming increasingly focused on terrorizing civilians. “Russia’s escalation with jet-powered Shaheds is gradually becoming increasingly terrorist in nature,” Zelenskyy said on X.
The attacks came as fighting along the front line has remained largely stalled more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Both countries have increasingly turned to long-range drone and missile strikes against fuel supplies, factories, warehouses, energy facilities and other infrastructure linked to the war effort.
Kyiv fuel stations hit:
Friday’s attacks followed what appeared to be the first Russian strike on a Kyiv gas station a day earlier. Ukrainian officials said Russia has targeted about 300 gas stations in recent months, mainly in areas close to the front line. Bohdan Kukura, chief executive of Ukrainian oil company Ukrnafta, said the attacks on fuel stations were not connected to a military objective and described them as attacks aimed at civilians.
A separate overnight strike damaged a residential building in the capital and injured eight people, officials said. Russia also struck a building used by Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile phone operator, according to Zelenskyy. The company said its communications network remained operational.
More deadly strikes across Ukraine:
The Russian attacks extended beyond Kyiv. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, one person was killed and 19 were injured, regional Gov. Oleksandr Hanzha said. Most of those wounded were in the city of Dnipro. One person was killed in a Russian attack on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, officials said. Another person died in a Russian drone strike on Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, according to regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.
Zelenskyy said Russian forces also attacked locations in eight other Ukrainian regions. The attacks briefly stopped during a visit to Kyiv by U.S. peace negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner but resumed afterward.
Oil and logistics facilities targeted:
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces struck an industrial facility and an oil-related site in Russia’s Saratov and Volgograd regions. He also reported additional strikes on targets in other Russian regions and in the Black Sea.
Russian online retailer Ozon said a Ukrainian drone caused a fire at one of its logistics centers in Saratov. More than 20 warehouses belonging to Ozon and rival online retailer Wildberries have been damaged in recent attacks. Ukraine has described the operations as part of a broader campaign against economic infrastructure that supports Russia’s war effort.
Ukraine’s military said it also struck an oil refinery in Saratov. In Volgograd, two people were injured after a missile hit two residential buildings and damaged an industrial site, according to local officials.
Strikes intensify as front line remains stalled:
The expanding attacks show how the war is increasingly extending beyond the battlefield. With little major movement along the front line, Russia and Ukraine are relying more heavily on drones and missiles to damage fuel supplies, industrial facilities, transportation networks and other infrastructure. Both Moscow and Kyiv deny deliberately targeting civilians.
However, the latest attacks have caused growing casualties and disruption in major cities and communities on both sides of the border, adding another dangerous dimension to the war.
