Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Russia launched a mass overnight attack against Ukraine on Feb. 26, injuring at least 26 people, local authorities reported.
“Russia again fought against critical infrastructure and ordinary residential buildings,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said, adding that the attacks caused damage in eight oblasts.
Russia launched 420 drones and 39 missiles, targeting energy infrastructure and residential areas, Zelensky said. At the same time, the Air Force reported that Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 374 drones and 32 missiles, while five ballistic missiles and 46 drones hit targets at 32 locations.
Among the missiles launched by Russia were 11 Iskander-M ballistic missiles, 24 Kh-101 cruise missiles, two Zirkon anti-ship hypersonic missiles, and two Kh-69 cruise missiles, the Air Force said.
The attack damaged houses and apartment buildings, as well as gas infrastructure in Poltava Oblast, and electrical substations in Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts, according to Zelensky.
“This means we must continue working even more actively. The cold has not yet fully receded, and air defense missiles are needed every single day while Russia continues its attempts to destroy our energy system,” Zelensky said.
The president added that most of the missiles were intercepted thanks to air defense missiles provided by partners following the recent meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the Ramstein format.
Kyiv
Explosions first took place in Ukraine’s capital at around 4:00 a.m. local time, according to Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground, as Ukrainian air defense systems engaged incoming targets.
Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said Russia was attacking the city with both ballistic missiles and drones, urging residents to remain in shelters until the air raid alert is lifted.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed that air defenses were operating in the city and warned residents to stay in safe locations as interceptions continued.
Monitoring channels also reported the possible launch of additional missiles from Russian strategic aircraft, suggesting further strikes could follow.
Authorities later reported damage in several districts of Kyiv. Fires were recorded at a private property in the Holosiivskyi district, while a two-story residential house caught fire in the Pecherskyi district following the attack.
The house in the Pecherskyi district was damaged by debris from a Shahed-type drone, which destroyed the kitchen. At the time of the attack, an elderly couple was inside the house — their lives were spared because they were in the bedroom, away from the windows, which were also shattered.
When the fire broke out, they were trapped and could not escape, but their grandson, who lives nearby, arrived in time to rescue them by breaking down the door.
“My grandmother answered after I called her several times. She said they could not leave (the house), so I got ready in a minute,” Maksym Leshchenko, the couple’s grandson, told the Kyiv Independent.
Leshchenko said he had seen warnings of a potential attack but never imagined it could hit his grandparents’ house. He added that he had expected the strike on the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“It was suspicious that there was such a lull,” he added.
In the Darnytskyi district, a nine-story residential building was damaged by the blast wave caused by the fall of debris. No fires were reported, and there were no casualties.
Elsewhere, authorities reported casualties and structural damage as the attack expanded beyond the capital.
Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih
In Kharkiv, officials reported that Russia carried out a large-scale attack involving 17 drones and two missiles, striking multiple districts across the city. The Shevchenkivskyi, Kyivskyi, Saltivskyi, and Slobidskyi districts were hit, according to local authorities.
A residential high-rise building was damaged in the attack, with at least nine people reportedly injured, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. The nearby settlement of Rai-Olenivka was also struck, bringing the total number of injured across all affected areas in Kharkiv Oblast to at least 16.
In Zaporizhzhia, eight people, including an eight-year-old boy, suffered injuries due to the overnight attack. None required hospitalization, according to Govenor Ivan Fedorov. The governor said that several floors of an apartment building caught fire, with one person reported trapped inside. A shopping center and a house were also damaged in the attack.
Meanwhile, a strike on Kryvyi Rih injured two people, including an 89-year-old man and 82-year old woman, regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha reported. The attack sparked a fire in a high-rise residential building.
Authorities said information on casualties and the full scale of damage is still being updated.
Russia’s overnight attack also damaged energy infrastructure in Odesa Oblast, leaving 32,000 households without power after a substation was hit, Ukraine’s biggest private energy firm, DTEK, told the Kyiv Independent.
Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper confirmed that an energy facility in the southern part of the oblast was damaged.
Russia targeted railway infrastructure in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk oblasts, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration, Oleksii Kuleba, said. Kuleba added that a children’s railway used for educational purposes in Kharkiv Oblast was also hit overnight, but no casualties were reported.
During the mass strike, Polish and allied aircraft patrolled Polish airspace, according to Poland’s Armed Forces Operational Command.
A Russian drone also violated Romanian airspace, prompting Romania to send F-16 jets, Digi24 reported.
The latest series of strikes against Ukraine come shortly following peace talks last week between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States in Geneva, Switzerland.
U.S. and Ukrainian officials will hold another round of talks in Geneva on Feb. 26, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said in an online address at the Yalta European Strategy (YES) conference Feb. 24.
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