Five killed in massive Russian airstrikes on Ukraine with 430 drones and 68 missiles on Saturday SUMMARY

At least five people were killed in massive Russian airstrikes in Ukraine on Saturday, Ukrainian authorities said. The main target of the attacks was energy infrastructure in the Kiev region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in a post on the social network “Ex“ (X), quoted by Reuters.

He said about 430 drones and 68 missiles were used in the attack, with strikes also being carried out in the Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv regions. Residential buildings, schools and businesses were also hit.

Most of the missiles were intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses.

A residential area was hit in Zaporizhia, the head of the regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov, said. One person was killed and 18 others were injured, including two minors. According to Fedorov, the attack hit 12 apartment buildings and 12 private houses, and rescue teams are still searching for people under the rubble.

Four people were killed in the Kiev region, the head of the regional military administration, Mykola Kalashnik, said. At least 15 people were injured and damage was reported in four regions.

The Ukrainian Energy Ministry said that the Russian strikes had disrupted power supply in six regions of the country.

“Russia will try to take advantage of the war in the Middle East to cause even greater destruction here, in Europe, in Ukraine“, Zelensky said, calling on the country's allies to increase the production of air defense systems.

Poland scrambled fighter jets

Because of the attack, Poland, a member of NATO and the European Union, scrambled fighter jets to protect its airspace. The Polish military reported that no violations of the country's air borders were detected.

Since the start of the war, which has been going on for more than four years, Russian armed forces have repeatedly attacked Ukrainian cities located far behind the front line.

Russian reports of Ukrainian attacks

Meanwhile, Russian authorities reported that Ukrainian armed forces attacked an oil refinery and port in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar with drones on Saturday night.

Three people were injured in the shelling of the port of Kavkaz, regional authorities reported in a post on “Telegram“. A service ship and port infrastructure were damaged. The port is used for grain and liquefied natural gas and is located in the Kerch Strait, opposite the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.

A separate statement from the authorities said that a fire broke out at the Afipsky oil refinery after a drone strike.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that 87 Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight, including 31 over the Sea of Azov and 16 over the Krasnodar region.