Russia conducted an aerial assault against Ukraine overnight on 25 March, deploying 139 Shahed kamikaze drones and decoy UAVs, and an Iskander-M ballistic missile, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Local authorities say the assault injured at least four civilians.
Russia continues its deliberate daily air attacks on residential areas and civilian infrastructure. Since October 2022, it has systematically targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with extensive missile and drone assaults, aiming to disrupt civilian life. Recently, Russia has concentrated attacks on fewer cities at a time, overwhelming local air defenses and increasing the number of drones that successfully strike residential areas.
Ukrainian air defense forces reported shooting down 78 Russian drones, while another 34 were “lost from radar,” meaning crashed. The air attack was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Air Force and Defense Forces.
The Air Force’s data suggests that at least 27 drones might have reached their intended targets.
The missile struck Sumy yesterday, causing dozens of injuries:
Poltava Oblast under attack
Russian drones attacked Poltava oblast in the early hours of 25 March, as reported by Volodymyr Kohut, acting head of Poltava Oblast Military Administration. Air defense forces successfully repelled the attack, but falling drone debris in Myrhorod district damaged a hangar facility at one of the enterprises and caused a fire, which was promptly extinguished by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.
Two employees of the enterprise were injured in the attack. One was hospitalized with suspected barotrauma, while the other received medical assistance at the scene, Kohut said.
Zaporizhzhia civilians wounded
The Russian army’s Shahed drone attack on Zaporizhzhia district resulted in injuries to two people, according to Ivan Fedorov, head of the Oblast Military Administration.
A 30-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman were wounded in the attack, but both refused hospitalization, Fedorov stated.
“In one of the villages, a detached house was partially destroyed, and outbuildings and a car were damaged,” the report said.
Massive drone strike on Izium
Late yesterday evening, Oleh Syniehubov, head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, reported a massive attack on Izium and a fire resulting from the attack.
“Izium is under attack by enemy drones. We recorded strikes from 14 Shahed-type UAVs. The shelling caused a fire in civilian non-residential infrastructure,” Syniehubov wrote.
According to preliminary data from the oblast chief, there were no casualties in the attack.
Multiple regions affected
As a result of the Russian attack, Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Cherkasy, and Odesa oblasts were affected, the Ukrainian Air Force said.
The aerial assault that began at 18:00 on 24 March included both Shahed-type attack drones and decoy UAVs, alongside the ballistic missile.
Related:
- “Russians erazed my home and took life of my grandmother”: Russia kills, injures civilians across Ukraine
- Defence Blog: Russia tests new drone swarm tactic against Ukrainian cities
- Russian drone attack on Kyiv kills five-year-old girl, her father, injures her mother
- Russian aerial attacks kill five civilians in Zaporizhzhia and Sumy oblasts
- ISW: Ukrainians advance in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, Russians in Donetsk
- Russian drones injure 10 in Kropyvnytskyi, other strikes kill at least five other civilians