Russian forces launched a sweeping overnight drone assault across Ukraine, igniting fires in multiple regions, and leaving civilians dead and injured as attacks spread from the east to key port infrastructure in the south.
Russia struck a high-rise building in Kharkiv with a Molniya suicide drone on Wednesday evening, April 1, causing casualties.
The city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, reported on Telegram:
“The enemy struck with a Molniya combat drone in the Shevchenkivskyi district. The strike hit a residential high-rise building. The windows in the building were broken, and information about the casualties is being clarified.”
Later, Terekhov reported that the drone hit the 9th floor of the high-rise building. He added that there were casualties, but their number and condition are still being clarified.
After midnight on April 2, he reported a Shahed strike on the Kyivskyi district of Kharkiv, adding that a fire broke out at the site of the strike.
At 6:55 a.m., Terekhov announced the fifth drone strike in the Kyivskyi district, writing:
“It can be stated that the enemy was aiming at a critical infrastructure facility.”
He also reported earlier that several cars caught fire during one of the strikes.
At 7:52 a.m., Terekhov reported the sixth explosion in Kharkiv since the beginning of the day, adding that details were still being clarified.
In addition, two people were injured in Chuhuiv, Kharkiv region, as a result of a Russian overnight attack.
“At night, Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) attacked the city of Chuhuiv. As a result of the attack, apartments on the second, third, and fourth floors of a four-story building caught fire,” the State Emergency Service (DSNS) reported.
According to the report, the total area of the fire was 300 square meters.
Preliminary data indicate that two civilians sought medical assistance. The explosion also damaged nearby residential buildings and a gas network.
Rescuers also reported that early Thursday morning the city of Synelnykove in the Dnipropetrovsk region came under a massive attack. A man was killed, while a woman and a 12-year-old boy were injured.
Fires broke out in a shopping complex and an administrative building. Private homes, outbuildings, and vehicles were also damaged.
The Ministry of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine reported that the Russian army also attacked port infrastructure in the Odesa region.
As a result of UAV strikes on one of the ports, warehouses, hangars, and administrative facilities were damaged. Containers and a civilian car were also set on fire. No casualties were reported.
All relevant services are working at the scene.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, from 6 p.m. on April 1, Russia launched 172 attack UAVs, including Shahed, Gerbera, and Italmas drones, with about 120 identified as Shaheds.
The air attack was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare and unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.
According to preliminary data, as of 08:00 a.m., air defenses shot down or suppressed 147 Russian UAVs in the north, south, and east of the country.
A total of 22 attack UAVs were recorded hitting 12 locations, while debris from downed drones fell in eight locations.