Ukraine launches one of its largest aerial attacks of the war, killing
at least 6 people in Russia
[August 17, 2026]
Ukraine launched hundreds of drones across Russia on Sunday, killing at
least six people in one of Kyiv’s largest aerial attacks of the war.
Kyiv has stepped up its attacks on Russia this year, with long-range
missiles and swarms of drones targeting military industries and energy
facilities. It has also increasingly pummeled giant Wildberries depots,
burning billions of dollars’ worth of merchandise belonging to the
Russian online retail giant. Those attacks have brought the war home to
the Russian public nearly 4½ years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion of
Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukraine also came under Russian attack, with drone strikes
destroying homes and torching Kyiv's landmark book market.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it had destroyed 822 Ukrainian drones
overnight. Some 600 drones were detected headed toward the Russian
capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, with a third of those
destroyed over the Moscow region itself.
An 83-year-old man was killed after a Ukrainian drone hit a private home
in the Moscow region, local Gov. Andrey Vorobyov said. He also confirmed
that a Ukrainian attack had sparked a blaze at a Wildberries warehouse
in the town of Podolsk.
A drone attack targeted three towns in Russia’s southwestern Rostov
region, killing five people, local Gov. Yury Slyusar said. The attack,
with more than 150 drones, damaged several homes and a railway station
and sparked a forest fire.
Russian strikes kill 5 in Ukraine
A Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Kryvyi Rih killed two people and
wounded 14 others, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on
social media Sunday. He also said that one more person had been killed
in the city of Sumy.
ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine’s largest steel producer, confirmed
that one of its sites had been hit in a missile attack and that
operations had been partially suspended.
Elsewhere, a man and a woman died when their home was hit by a Russian
strike in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, said Ivan Fedorov, the
head of the local military administration.
Russian attacks also sparked fires throughout the Ukrainian capital,
Kyiv, wounding six people. A blaze took hold at one of the city's
largest book markets, tearing through kiosks huddled close to the
Pochaina metro station. Firefighters fought back the flames, which sent
plumes of black smoke across the capital, and picked their way through
rubble where the market's crowded pavilions once stood.
“Wherever the Russians can reach with their ballistic missiles, they
strike civilian infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said.
Russia's Ministry of Defense said Sunday that it had targeted a
metallurgical plant in Kryvyi Rih and several military-industrial sites
in Kyiv, including a manufacturing facility for Ukraine's Flamingo
missiles.
[to top of second column]
|
Firefighters try to put out a fire at a city book market following a
Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, early Sunday, Aug. 16,
2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
The domestically produced missiles are increasingly key to Ukraine's
long-range attacks on Russia, with Zelenskyy announcing Saturday
that Kyiv had used the weapons to attack a rocket research and
production center in Samara approximately 900 kilometers (560 miles)
from the Ukrainian border.
NATO jet downs drone in Romanian airspace
Romania’s Ministry of National Defense said Sunday that a Spanish
Air and Space Force F-18 fighter jet shot down a drone that had
entered Romanian airspace.
The drone’s entry into the NATO member’s airspace was detected by
surveillance systems at 4:44 a.m., the ministry said, about 24
kilometers (14.9 miles) north of the eastern city of Galati near the
border with neighboring Moldova. Moldova is a landlocked country
between Ukraine and Romania.
A Spanish F-18 aircraft that was performing air policing duties
“made radar contact with the target and received engagement
approval,” the ministry said. “The drone was safely shot down by the
F-18 aircraft at 05:01.”
The ministry later said that drone debris was also reported in the
Black Sea around 10 a.m. on Sunday, about 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles)
from the coastal city of Constanta. Separately, another drone
fragment was found on Sunday 1 nautical mile (1.85 kilometers) from
Constanta.
Romanian officials did not specify the drone’s origin.
However, Moldova’s Ministry of Defense said Sunday that its Army
surveillance systems had detected a Geran-type Shahed drone in
Moldovan airspace, which entered from Ukraine and exited toward
Romania.
The spate of drone incidents comes weeks after Romanian pilots shot
down three drones over three days as Russia intensified attacks
against Ukraine near the border. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion
of Ukraine, Romania has reported dozens of drone incidents,
including some that have crashed and exploded on its territory.
Acting Foreign Minister Oana Toiu said in a post on X that the
Spanish deployment in Romania was scaled up “at the request of
Romania and NATO to bolster the Eastern Flank following prior drone
incidents,” and that it was Spain’s fourth such deployment.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
