KYIV – Russia unleashed several waves of missile and drone attacks across multiple Ukrainian regions early on August 27, killing at least four people, according to Ukraine’s military. This comes a day after Moscow executed its largest air attack of the war on Ukraine.
Two people were killed when a hotel was destroyed in the central city of Kryvyi Rih, while two others died in drone attacks on the city of Zaporizhzhia, located to the east of Kryvyi Rih. The air defense systems in Kyiv were activated multiple times overnight, as the Ukrainian capital came under fire from missiles and drones, according to the region’s military administration. Witnesses reported hearing at least three rounds of explosions in Kyiv during the night.
On August 26, Russia launched over 200 missiles and drones in what was described as its largest air assault to date, resulting in at least seven deaths and significant damage to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. US President Joe Biden condemned the attack as “outrageous.”
Analysts from the Institute for the Study of War suggested that Moscow may struggle to sustain such large-scale strikes due to limitations in its defense-industrial capacity.
Russian military bloggers have characterized the recent attacks as “retaliation” for Ukraine’s surprising incursion into Russian territory—the first such action since World War II. The Kremlin has vowed to respond to Ukraine’s actions in the Kursk region, although Kyiv continues to claim advances in the area, despite Moscow’s efforts to repel Ukrainian troops.
The full scale and impact of the August 27 attacks are not yet clear. However, Ukraine’s air force reported the launch of several groups of drones and the take-off of Russian strategic bombers and interceptor aircraft.
There has been no immediate comment from Russia, and the reports could not be independently verified by Reuters. The Kremlin, which denies targeting civilians, stated that its strikes on August 26 hit “all designated targets” in Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure.
Throughout the night, air raid alerts were in effect across central and eastern Ukraine, including in Kryvyi Rih and Kyiv. In Kryvyi Rih, two civilians remain trapped under the rubble of the destroyed hotel, while five others were injured, according to Dnipropetrovsk region Governor Serhiy Lisak. The attack also damaged six shops, four high-rise buildings, and eight cars.
In Zaporizhzhia, the overnight drone attacks killed two people and injured four others, according to Governor Ivan Fedorov. The attacks involved Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones, which Ukraine accuses Russia of using extensively in its assaults.