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Ukraine War28 September, 20262 min read

Russia Kills At Least 20, Including Children, In Drone And Missile Barrage Across Ukraine

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At least 20 people killed, including children, in overnight Russian drone and missile barrage. 130 drones and dozens of missiles; air defenses downed 161 targets.

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Russia Kills At Least 20, Including Children, In Drone And Missile Barrage Across Ukraine
Image: Українська правда

Drones, missiles, and deaths

Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles across Ukraine, killing at least 20 people including children, according to Ukrainian authorities. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 130 drones and 48 cruise missiles overnight, and it added that air defence units downed 161 targets. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media that Russia fired 70 missiles and also drones in one of its biggest attacks since Moscow launched the war in 2022, and he said, “One of the key targets was our energy infrastructure.”

“‘One of the key targets was our energy infrastructure.”
Al Jazeera

In Pryluki in the northern Chernihiv region, a Russian missile slammed into a five-storey residential building, killing at least 14 people including four children and wounding 50 others, emergency services said. Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said two people were killed in the densely populated Darnytskyi neighbourhood in a fire caused by an air attack.

Image from ABC
Image: ABC
Reporting for this sectionAl Jazeera

Competing accounts of the strike

Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most vile strikes” and said it was a “birthday gift” to Vladimir Putin, who turned 74 on Wednesday. Zelensky said, “The Russians wanted to strike painfully and demonstratively,” and he added that 70 missiles were fired in total. Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its forces carried out a “massive strike” on military industries in Kyiv and elsewhere, and it said it used high-precision land-, sea-, and air-launched weapons as well as drones.

Ukraine’s air force reported it shot down just over 80% of 46 jet-powered drones launched by Russia, and it said the interception rate was higher than in recent weeks when it ranged between 50% and 60%. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights, said on Telegram, “Ukraine has once again been hit by Russian missiles throughout the night,” and he called it “another act of terror”.

Image from ABC News
Image: ABC News
Reporting for this sectionBBCAl-Masri al-Youm

Winter stakes and war spending

Ukrainian politicians called for ending the war through negotiations with Russia, and Oleksi Honcharenko said on social media that “we are losing the war” and “we lack money not only to finance the war, but even to keep the country functioning.” Danilo Hetmantsev wrote that “driving negotiations and peace should be our top priority,” while Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said peace must be based on defense capability and concrete guarantees from partners. The parliamentary opposition group European Solidarity expelled Honcharenko, and its statement said their positions differed from European Solidarity’s “ideological principles,” including goals for a strong Ukrainian army and adherence to the EU and NATO.

Russia’s military spending is set to reach a record level this year after President Vladimir Putin added about $60 billion to budget allocations, and the article said defense spending is expected to approach 17 trillion rubles ($199 billion) by the end of the year. Putin warned of escalation in European capitals, and he said, “We recognize that we will face an opponent whose population is double ours,” while adding, “But no one today has the means of destruction that Russia possesses, and these are our advantages.”

Reporting for this sectionDWAl-Sharq Bloomberg