KYIV, Ukraine — Russia carried out a “massive strike” with land-, sea- and air-launched weapons and drones on Ukraine overnight, Russia’s defense ministry said Wednesday, hitting Kyiv and the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kirovohrad, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, and Kharkiv regions, as well as port infrastructure in Odesa, according to Reuters.
Kyiv’s mayor said buildings and warehouses across the capital were damaged in the attack, and an industrial facility in Dnipro was also hit. The strike followed a warning from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his nightly address Tuesday that “updated intelligence” showed Russia was preparing a massive attack, along with a fresh plea for more air-defense weaponry from allies, particularly the United States.
Ukraine has meanwhile claimed its long-range strikes have disabled more than half of Russia’s oil refining capacity, according to the Associated Press. Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledged Oct. 1 that Ukrainian attacks on refineries had cost the Russian economy roughly 1% of GDP. Moscow and Kyiv are now trading strikes deep into each other’s territory.
Diplomatically, Zelensky said the Trump administration is pushing for trilateral Ukraine–Russia technical talks before the end of October, with the United Arab Emirates floated as a possible venue — a sign Washington wants movement toward negotiations even as the aerial war escalates.
The latest barrage was among the largest strikes on Kyiv in months and underlined the widening gap between the battlefield reality and the diplomatic push. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly argued that air-defense systems, not talk, are what will determine the war’s trajectory this winter.
