Russia, Ukraine trade strikes as frontline fighting persists
Shafaq News- Moscow/ Kyiv
Russia and Ukraine exchanged drone and missile attacks over the past 24 hours, with strikes reported in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro as well as deep inside Russia, while both sides claimed battlefield gains and heavy losses among opposing forces.
Ukrainian authorities reported a new Russian drone attack on Kyiv, saying one man was injured after a non-residential building was hit in the capital’s Podilskyi district.
In Zaporizhzhia, regional authorities said drone attacks sparked a large fire at a shopping center. Earlier, an FPV drone struck a passenger bus, with the number of injured later rising to eight. Another drone attack hit an ambulance, wounding a paramedic and a driver, according to Ukrainian officials.
A separate Russian attack on Dnipro injured two people late Thursday, while Ukrainian authorities said repeated strikes across the wider Dnipropetrovsk region had caused additional casualties during the day.
The attacks also prompted neighboring Poland to scramble military aircraft twice on Thursday as Russian strikes approached western Ukraine. Polish authorities said no violation of Polish airspace was recorded.
Russia also reported another wave of Ukrainian drone attacks. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Russian air defenses had destroyed 35 drones approaching the capital since the start of Friday, with emergency crews deployed to areas where debris fell.
Ukraine meanwhile said its forces had struck the Yaroslavl oil refinery and a military airfield in Russia’s Rostov region, claiming the destruction of one An-12 transport aircraft, two An-26s and three helicopters.
Russian authorities confirmed that a drone attack damaged the Yaroslavl refinery and caused a fire, saying 65 drones were intercepted over the region and no casualties were reported. Moscow has not confirmed Ukraine’s claims regarding aircraft losses in Rostov.
TASS also reported that Russian air defenses intercepted hundreds of Ukrainian drones over multiple regions during the broader wave of attacks, with falling debris damaging infrastructure and causing power outages in parts of Rostov-on-Don.
Russian-installed authorities in occupied Donetsk said Ukrainian attacks over the past day killed three civilians and wounded 15 others, including four children.
On the ground, Ukraine said its forces had retaken the village of Serednie in northern Donetsk region during an offensive by the 66th Separate Mechanized Brigade. The Ukrainian military said Russian forces were pushed back across the Nitrius River south of the village.
Russia, for its part, said its forces had taken Malaya Volchya in the Kharkiv region and Rozovka in the Zaporizhzhia region. Ukraine had not confirmed those claims.
Both militaries continued to report heavy losses on the opposing side. Ukraine’s General Staff said Russian forces lost about 1,420 personnel over the latest 24-hour period, while the Russian Defense Ministry put Ukrainian losses at around 1,260 troops. Neither figure could be independently verified.
Despite the continued fighting, Russia returned the remains of 252 people to Ukraine overnight, according to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Kyiv said Russia identified the remains as those of Ukrainian citizens, including military personnel, and that forensic examinations would now be carried out.
Diplomatically, Moscow signaled little change in its position. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia and the United States would continue consultations on Ukraine, while Russia’s representative to the OSCE said Moscow would not agree to a ceasefire without first reaching agreement on the main terms of a broader settlement.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, meanwhile, was due in Ukraine on Friday and said Warsaw would continue pressing for stronger European sanctions against Russia.
