Russian air defences intercepted more than 100 Ukrainian drones on Sunday, according to Moscow officials, as a ballistic missile attack injured 17 people in the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih. The widespread aerial attacks come as the conflict between the two nations continues more than two and a half years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Russian Defence Ministry reported that 110 drones were shot down during the overnight attack, which spanned seven Russian regions. Kursk, a border region, was heavily targeted, with 43 drones reportedly destroyed. Social media footage also showed Russian air defences in action over Dzerzhinsk, a city in the Nizhny Novgorod region known for its explosive production facilities. The local governor, Gleb Nikitin, stated that four firefighters were injured during efforts to repel the drone assault in the city's industrial area.
Ukraine's General Staff confirmed targeting Dzerzhinsk's Sverdlov factory, a state-owned facility involved in the production of chemical components for artillery shells and bombs. Additionally, it claimed that a drone attack had sparked a fire at a military airfield in the Lipetsk region. However, these claims could not be independently verified. This large-scale drone attack follows a similar incident in late September, during which Russia's Ministry of Defense reported the destruction of 125 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions.
Meanwhile, in Kryvyi Rih, two Russian ballistic missiles struck the city late Saturday night, injuring 17 civilians and damaging homes and businesses, according to local officials. Ukraine's air force reported that Russia had launched a total of 49 drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles overnight, with 31 drones shot down across 12 regions, including Kyiv. Another 13 drones were suspected to have been neutralized by electronic defences.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized the intensity of Russian aerial assaults, stating that Russia had launched approximately 800 guided bombs and over 500 attack drones in the past week alone. Zelenskyy called for continued air defence support from Ukraine's allies, describing the attacks as deliberate terror aimed at Ukrainian civilians. "United in defence, the world can stand against this targeted terror," Zelenskyy declared in his message to the international community.