Russia launched 332 drones at Ukraine overnight into Saturday, and Ukraine's Air Force said air defences shot down 289 of them, while Russian ballistic missiles struck 22 locations across the country and falling debris was recorded in three more areas. Russia's defence ministry said the large-scale attack hit Ukraine's largest steelworks in Kryvyi Rih, an electricity substation in Zhytomyr and a second steel plant in Zaporizhzhia, and that a cargo vessel in the Black Sea was also hit. Regional authorities reporting on Saturday put the past day's toll from Russian attacks at seven people killed and around 90 injured.
What did Ukraine's Air Force report overnight?
The Air Force said the 332 drones launched overnight included jet-powered attack drones, and that drones and ballistic missiles of the Iskander-M and North Korean KN-23 types struck 22 different locations, the Kyiv Independent reported. The barrage was the second consecutive night of mass strikes on Ukraine's energy system: attacks on energy facilities overnight and on the morning of October 17 left some homes without power, Ukraine's Energy Ministry said. In Vinnytsia, the whole city was left without power, according to the energy ministry as reported by CNN, and Governor Natalia Zabolotna said Russia had launched one of its largest attacks on the central Vinnytsia region since the start of the full-scale invasion, injuring six people.
What did Russia's defence ministry say it hit?
Russia's defence ministry said on Saturday it had carried out a large-scale overnight attack on Ukrainian infrastructure targets, including the country's largest steelworks in the city of Kryvyi Rih, Reuters reported. The plant is owned by steel giant ArcelorMittal, which suspended the facility's operations in September after a series of Russian ballistic missile strikes; the ministry said the plant supplied steel products to the Ukrainian military-industrial complex. The ministry said Russian forces had also hit an electricity substation in the northwestern city of Zhytomyr and another steel plant in Zaporizhzhia, near the front line, and that a cargo vessel in the Black Sea was hit, alleging it was delivering military cargo to Ukraine's Odesa port. Reuters said it could not independently confirm the ministry's report, and the claims are published here as the ministry's account. In a separate claim carried by CNN, Russia's defence ministry said its air defences intercepted 610 Ukrainian drones overnight — a figure that has not been independently verified.
What is the reported human toll?
Regional authorities said Russian attacks killed seven people and injured around 90 over the past day, the Kyiv Independent reported. In Kharkiv region, a 58-year-old man and a 71-year-old woman were killed and 41 people were injured or suffered from stress, including three children, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. Two people were killed in Kramatorsk in Donetsk region, where 15 more were injured, Governor Vadym Filashkin said. Near Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk region a 74-year-old woman was killed and two men injured, and one more man was killed in Dnipro when Russian forces targeted an industrial facility, Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said. In Kherson region, where Russian forces targeted 31 towns and villages, one person was killed and at least 19 others injured, including children, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported. Seven people were injured in Sumy region, at least four in Odesa region, where Governor Oleh Kiper said civilian infrastructure was targeted, and six in Zaporizhzhia region, according to the regional authorities cited by the Kyiv Independent. The figures are the regional authorities' reports and have not been independently verified.
Attribution note: the target list for the overnight barrage — the Kryvyi Rih and Zaporizhzhia steel plants, the Zhytomyr substation and the Black Sea cargo vessel — is Russia's defence ministry's account, reported by Reuters, which said it could not independently confirm it; the ministry's claim of 610 Ukrainian drones intercepted is likewise unverified. The drone totals and impact locations are Ukraine's Air Force figures as reported by the Kyiv Independent, and the casualty figures are those of the named regional governors.
