Last night’s Russian drone strike, including 35 one-way attack and decoy drones, killed a railway worker and injured several more civilians in three Ukrainian regions as the Shahed drones hit homes and infrastructure across three oblasts.
Ukrainian air defenses intercept 11 drones, but 18 strike targets
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Moscow’s forces launched 35 unmanned aerial vehicles, including 29 Shaheds and multiple decoy drones, from the directions of Russia’s Millerovo and Primorsko-Akhtarsk. The attack began around 21:30 on 17 July and continued into the early hours of 18 July.
Air defense units reportedly destroyed 11 drones over Ukraine’s northern and eastern regions. Six decoy drones disappeared from radars or were suppressed by electronic warfare.
Railway worker killed in Dnipropetrovsk oblast
In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, a Russian drone strike kills a railway worker and injures two others. The head of the oblast administration, Serhii Lysak, confirmed that drones hit communities in Pavlohrad and Synelnykove districts. A 52-year-old man was killed in the Verbkivska and Bohdanivska areas, and two men aged 38 and 40 were wounded. A fire broke out at a local transport facility, which was later extinguished.
Ukrzaliznytsia added that a drone also struck an electric locomotive. The train operator was killed, and his assistant was wounded but remains in stable condition.
Three Shahed drones were downed over the oblast by Ukrainian air defenses.
According to Lysak, a small FPV kamikaze drone also targeted Nikopol. The aftermath is still under investigation.
Elderly man injured in Zaporizhzhia oblast
In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Russian drones struck Andriivka village in the Zaporizhzhia district. According to oblast head Ivan Fedorov, nine Shahed drones hit the area, injuring a 79-year-old man. Fires erupted at non-residential buildings and several structures were destroyed.
Four civilians wounded in Kharkiv oblast
In Kharkiv Oblast, Russian drones targeted the city of Chuhuiv. Mayor Halyna Minaieva reported that four civilians were wounded. The strike damaged residential buildings, a family doctor’s office, and an educational institution.