Russia launched a large-scale drone assault on Ukraine overnight, targeting the cities of Dnipro and Kharkiv with more than 100 unmanned aerial vehicles, Ukraine’s Air Force reported on Wednesday.
The strike began at approximately 9.30pm local time on 29 April and continued into the early hours of Tuesday. According to Ukraine’s Air Force Command, the attack involved 108 drones, including Shahed-type strike UAVs and other types of decoy drones, launched from Russia’s Kursk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk regions as well as from occupied Crimea.
Ukrainian air defences, including fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units, mobile fire teams and electronic warfare systems, were deployed to counter the attack. By 11.30am local time, the military confirmed the downing of 50 Shahed drones and other UAVs across eastern, northern, southern and central regions of Ukraine.
A further 22 decoy drones were “locationally lost” but caused no harm, the Air Force added.
The strikes led to damage in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, though details on casualties or the extent of destruction were not immediately available. As of late Tuesday morning, Ukraine’s military said two Russian drones remained airborne and “combat operations are ongoing.”
This latest wave of drone attacks comes amid a broader escalation in Russia’s aerial campaign against Ukrainian cities, as Kyiv continues to plead for more advanced air defence systems from Western allies.