Russia pounded several Ukrainian cities overnight into Saturday, Aug. 30, with drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles in one of the heaviest barrages in weeks, killing at least one person and injuring 22, officials said.
The attacks struck Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Lutsk and Pavlohrad, while explosions were also reported in Starokostiantyniv, Zhytomyr, Vasylkiv, Cherkasy and Sumy. Homes, businesses and infrastructure were damaged, and fires broke out across multiple regions.
Ukraine’s military said Russia used a wide array of weapons in the assault, including:
- X-101/55 cruise missiles launched from Tu-95MS bombers over Volgograd region,
- Kalibr cruise missiles fired from warships in the Black Sea near Novorossiysk,
- Iskander-M (9M723) and KN-23 ballistic missiles launched from Russia’s Rostov and Voronezh regions,
- Likely Iskander-K (9M727/729) cruise missiles,
- Several types of attack drones, including Shahed/Geran and Gerbera models.
Serhiy Lysak, governor of Dnipropetrovsk region, said both drones and missiles hit Dnipro and Pavlohrad, damaging infrastructure and sparking fires in residential areas.
Zaporizhzhia was among the hardest hit. The State Emergency Service said one person was killed and 22 others were injured, including three children – boys aged 9 and 10, and a 16-year-old girl. Eight of the wounded were hospitalized.
Rescue workers extinguished fires in apartments of two five-story residential buildings and in five private houses, a car service station and a café. In total, flames spread across more than 700 square meters of property, officials said. Emergency teams pulled six people, including one child, from damaged buildings.
The Ukrainian emergency service said its psychologists gave assistance to 26 residents, including three children. Crews continue clearing rubble and checking for survivors.
The strikes also disrupted rail travel in Kyiv region, delaying several domestic and international trains by up to two hours.
The overnight barrage was Russia’s second large-scale combined strike on Ukraine in just a few days, following nearly a month of relative calm.
It followed a deadly Aug. 28 missile and drone attack on Kyiv, where the hardest-hit area was Darnytskyi district. A five-story residential building was destroyed, killing 22 residents, including four children. Three more people died in other parts of the capital.
Rescue services worked at 19 locations across six districts of Kyiv that night, deploying more than 700 personnel, nearly 150 pieces of equipment and seven dogs. Fifteen people, including four children, were pulled alive from the rubble.
The latest attacks also come against the backdrop of renewed diplomatic maneuvering by US President Donald Trump.
Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15, and with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington on Aug. 18, seeking to position himself as a broker in the war.