Russia bombards Kyiv and other cities in onslaught testing Ukraine's
defenses
[August 28, 2026]
By HANNA ARHIROVA
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia bombarded cities across Ukraine with
missiles and drones in an overnight onslaught that ran into the daylight
hours of Thursday, when explosions echoed around Kyiv through the
morning.
Ukraine is desperately short of U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles
that can counter Russia’s ballistic missiles, and Moscow’s fast-flying
jet-powered drones have brought another challenge since the Russian
military's full-scale invasion began 4˝ years ago.
Ukrainian officials say Russia builds up missile stocks and launches
major attacks every few days, hoping to exhaust Ukrainian defenses
through the sheer weight of numbers. In response, Ukraine has hit
high-profile targets on Russian soil as the countries inflict mutual
destruction.
Russia says attack targeted war-related facilities
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces carried out a “massive”
strike on targets in nine Ukrainian cities that began after nightfall on
Wednesday. It described the targets as military-related, including
industrial facilities, oil refineries, logistics hubs and port
infrastructure.
Civilian areas, including apartment buildings, suffered damage. The
barrage killed a 78-year-old woman in the southern Zaporizhzhia region
and another person in the northern Kharkiv region, with at least 14
people reported wounded elsewhere, Ukrainian officials said.
“Russia continues to invest in missiles and in expanding its war, and
that means more countermeasures are needed,” Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media, noting promises earlier this
week by European countries to provide more air defense assistance.
“It is important that these (measures) are also supplemented by
additional ballistic missile defense packages” through European
purchases of weapons from the United States, he said.
Though the Russian Defense Ministry insisted only war-related targets
were attacked, Russia appears determined to hurt Ukrainian businesses
and dent the country's economy through attacks on private enterprise
after Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes caused financial difficulties
for Moscow.
Russian drones hit three major distribution centers, destroying depots
belonging to a toy store chain and a confectionery company, and damaging
another run by an electronics retailer, the companies said.
In addition, Moscow continued its efforts to wreck the Ukrainian power
grid before the freezing winter months.
Four powerful glide bombs destroyed generating equipment at the southern
Kherson region’s combined heat and power plant, forcing it to shut down,
its operator Naftogaz said.
Zelenskyy expected on official visit to neighboring Moldova
Zelenskyy was due to visit neighboring Moldova on Thursday to mark its
national day commemorating its 1991 declaration of independence from the
Soviet Union. Ukraine announced its independence the same year.
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Smoke rises over the city center after a Russian attack on Kyiv,
Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Russia’s neighbors in Eastern Europe are concerned its invasion of
Ukraine could trigger a wider conflict, and drones flying into its
airspace have fueled jitters.
Moldova’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday that five drones
breached its airspace overnight, but it didn’t specify who fired
them.
Ukraine’s air force said defenses shot down or suppressed seven
Russian ballistic missiles, though it didn’t say how they achieved
that.
Four districts of Kyiv were hit during the night, damaging
residential buildings, a school and a medical facility, though no
casualties were reported, city police said.
Russian forces struck industrial facilities as well as energy
infrastructure in Ukraine’s central Poltava region, said Vitalii
Diakivnych, head of the Poltava regional military administration.
The southern Odesa region also came under a major Russian attack
lasting more than seven hours, according to Oleh Kiper, head of the
Odesa regional military administration.
The barrage damaged a 16-story residential building and two
educational facilities as well as a grain elevator, he said. Odesa
is a key port for Ukraine’s vital exports of grain and other
agricultural products.
Some trains were delayed by more than 17 hours following the attack,
according to Ukrainian state rail company Ukrzaliznysia.
Ukraine takes aim at another Russian online retailer
Ukraine has also fired hundreds of long-range drones almost nightly
at targets in Russia.
Ukraine’s General Staff said that plane-launched missiles hit
Russia’s main and backup command posts near the eastern city of
Donetsk, where Ukrainian defenders are under pressure from a Russian
push.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday that its air defenses
shot down 267 Ukrainian drones over 14 Russian regions, the
illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula, the Sea of Azov and the Black
Sea.
After razing huge warehouses in recent months belonging to
Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online retailer, Ukrainian drones are
now taking aim at Ozon, the country's second-largest e-commerce
company.
Ozon initially said that its logistics facilities in the cities of
Orenburg and Ufa were attacked, but neither of the premises caught
fire. A later alteration to the company statement said that only the
Ufa site was attacked, while the Orenburg facility was evacuated
because of an alert, but resumed normal operations.
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