Three people were killed and six wounded overnight into Thursday in Ukraine's central Kirovohrad region, which Governor Andriy Raikovych said was hit by more than 360 drones in the largest attack on the region during the war, Reuters reported. Ukraine's air force said the overnight attack was nationwide in scale: 580 drones were launched at the country, of which 536 were shot down, according to Reuters.
What happened in Kirovohrad overnight?
The attack began late on Wednesday and struck 26 locations across the region, Raikovych wrote on Telegram, according to Reuters. The governor said the targets hit included critical infrastructure, transport enterprises, logistics facilities and residential homes. Kropyvnytskyi, the regional capital, was the focus of the assault, the Kyiv Independent reported; it put the city's population at about 220,000 and noted that the region is not a frequent target of bombardment. Shortly before the governor's report, Ukraine's air force had issued a red alert for Kropyvnytskyi over the threat of jet-powered, high-speed drones, the Kyiv Independent reported.
What is the human toll?
The toll stands at three killed and six wounded, reported by both Reuters and the Kyiv Independent from the governor's account. Five of the wounded were hospitalised, the Kyiv Independent reported. The governor did not specify which individual sites in the city were hit, and the Kyiv Independent reported that attacks were still under way and the full extent of the damage was not yet clear at the time of its report. Both outlets' figures rest on Raikovych's account; no independent casualty assessment had been published in the sources opened at publication time.
Why does the timing matter?
The barrage was the second consecutive night of mass Russian attacks on Ukraine, following Tuesday night's strikes on energy facilities in Kyiv and Kharkiv that left at least 600,000 people without power. It came days after US President Donald Trump announced an energy ceasefire on Sunday; neither Moscow nor Kyiv confirmed that agreement, and Ukraine said it had paused its own strikes on Russian energy infrastructure while Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure continued. Thursday's attack therefore landed while the status of that announced halt remained in dispute between the parties.
The casualty figures and the count of drones aimed at Kirovohrad are published as Governor Raikovych's account, carried independently by Reuters and the Kyiv Independent; the nationwide drone total and interception figure are Ukraine's air force figures as reported by Reuters.
