Ukraine War · updated 4h ago · 3 min read
Russia Strikes Kyiv With Missiles And Drones After U.S. Sanctions Bill Approval
Missiles and drones struck Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, injuring dozens of civilians. The attacks followed the U.S. Congress's passage of a sanctions bill targeting Moscow.
Whether an energy truce was agreed or still proposed.
9 of 10 outlets skipped it: russia struck Kyivvodokanal and partially disrupted water supplies.
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NBC News
“President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop striking each other’s energy infrastructure.”Read the original ↗
Al Jazeera
“The attacks that targeted energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine followed US President Donald Trump's announcement of an energy truce between the two countries on September 14, although neither side has confirmed such an agreement.”Read the original ↗
NBC News frames the energy halt as an agreement. Al Jazeera frames it as unsettled and disputed by denials.
Sanctions, then strikes
Russia battered Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones overnight on Sept 17, injuring more than two dozen people, hours after the U.S. Congress approved a major sanctions bill targeting Moscow.
“injuring more than two dozen people”
Reuters said the overnight barrage included Oniks anti-ship cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, four cruise missiles and nearly 160 drones, and it did not specify the number and whether any of the more deadly ballistic missiles were intercepted.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the passage of the bill, calling it alongside existing measures an "extremely powerful tool" that could help force Russia to end a war now entering its fifth year.
Zelenskiy said, "It is symbolic that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act on the night of yet another Russian attack on Ukraine with ballistic and other missiles and drones," as damage was recorded in eight regions including Sumy and Odesa.
In Kyiv, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 18 people, including two children, were wounded, with most of them in a damaged 16-storey apartment building, while the strike also temporarily disrupted water supply on the left bank of the Dnipro river.
Zelenskiy, Klitschko, and counts
Zelenskiy framed the sanctions vote as linked to the attacks, writing on X that the Lindsey Graham bill was "symbolic" and that "Every day, we respond to aggression. Russia must choose peace."
The Independent reported that Zelensky confirmed a Ukrainian drone attack damaged an oil refinery in the Russian city of Yaroslavl and said the strike was carried out in a joint operation by the Security Service of Ukraine, the Unmanned Systems Forces, the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, and the Foreign Intelligence Service.
In Kyiv, the Kyiv Post reported that at least 12 people were injured, including two children aged 10 and 12, and that Klitschko later clarified the number of casualties had risen to 16, then to 18 at 9:33 a.m., and to 20 at 12:11 p.m.
Reuters and RFE/RL both cited Klitschko’s figure of 18 people, including children, injured in the capital, while the Kyiv Post’s running updates reached 20 by midday.
RFE/RL also reported that a repeat drone strike sparked a fire in an administrative building, and it said regional authorities reported a Russian overnight strike on Odesa injured six people, including two children.
Energy targets and escalation
The Reuters account said Moscow hit energy infrastructure in the Sumy and Odesa regions and that Russian defence ministry said Moscow had struck vessels used by the Ukrainian military, while Zelenskiy said tougher sanctions were essential to force Russia to return to the negotiating table.
“injured at least 16 people overnight”
Reuters also reported that a Ukrainian drone attack damaged an oil refinery in the Russian city of Yaroslavl, causing a fire that was later doused, and it said the region’s governor described the incident on Thursday.
CBC reported that Russian strikes injured at least 16 people overnight and into Thursday morning, and it said Ukraine’s Air Force destroyed or suppressed 131 Russian aerial targets during the overnight attack.
CBC said the attack involved ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as 157 drones and decoys, and it described damage across Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and Odesa including apartments on the 14th through 16th floors of a residential building and a private residential building in Odesa that was destroyed.
NBC News said President Donald Trump claimed Russia and Ukraine had agreed to stop striking each other’s energy infrastructure, but it reported that overnight into Tuesday both sides launched new attacks on energy, including Russia firing a volley of 200 drones at Ukraine.N