A massive combined air attack with missiles and drones was launched against Ukraine in the early hours of September 12. Official reports from both warring parties outline the serious scale of the operation, affecting both the civilian and heavy industrial infrastructure of the country.
Assessment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU)
According to operational information released by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in their morning report, air defenses have been activated in a number of regions due to massive shelling. Official representatives of the Ukrainian army confirmed that as a result of the attacks, hits in a total of 20 locations on the territory of the country. Material damage was caused, and in some places the power supply was interrupted. The morning report, quoted on the official page of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria on Facebook (facebook.com), states that Russian forces continue to use tactics of intensive pressure by simultaneously launching cruise missiles and swarms of cheap attack drones.
The position of the Ministry of Defense of Russia
Almost simultaneously with the Ukrainian announcements, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation issued its regular press conference. In it, the Russian military department stated that last night high-precision group strikes were carried out on strategic industrial sites. The spokesman for the department emphasized that the target of the attack were large Ukrainian metallurgical plants located in the industrial centers of Zaporozhye, Dnepropetrovsk and Krivoy Rog. According to the Russian side, these enterprises provide raw materials and parts for the needs of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine. The full text of the Russian statement was published on the official news channel of the Russian Ministry of Defense in Telegram (t.me/mod_russia).
Escalation on the front lines and international reactions
The attack comes at a time of extremely dynamic situation on the battlefield, where over 230 combat clashes have been registered over the past 24 hours. Against the background of the new strikes, international agencies are reporting on increased military production. According to a recent publication by the authoritative media outlet The Guardian (theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/12/ukraine-war-briefing), Russian forces are beginning to implement increasingly modern software with elements of artificial intelligence in their drones, which increases their autonomy and resistance to electronic warfare systems.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has again warned that Ukraine will respond reciprocally to attempts to destroy its energy and production infrastructure, with details of his position shared by the Ukrainian legal publication Sudebno-yuridicheskaya Gazeta (sud.ua/en/news/ukraine).