Russian Strikes Injure 52 Across Ukraine in a Day, Zelensky Says

Russian attacks injured 52 across Ukraine nationwide, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday, Oct. 15, as Moscow kept up its near-constant drone campaign against Ukrainian cities following a massive overnight barrage.

Zelensky provided the figure in a statement after meeting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Brussels, saying Russia was using Shahed drones almost continuously and had struck a store, a pharmaceutical plant and logistics facilities during the day.

“Donald is well informed about the situation with Russian strikes and how it is escalating every day,” Zelensky said, adding that “We discussed in detail all the current threats and the steps that will help strengthen our protection against Russian strikes.”

While he did not specify where the casualties had occurred, local authorities reported casualties in several regions on Thursday.

Strikes on Kyiv city and region

According to Ukrainian authorities, air defenses were active in Kyiv since early morning.

Around 10:30 a.m. local time, a Russian drone fell on an open ground near a five-story residential building in the Pechersk district, damaging its facade, roof and windows, as well as two neighboring buildings. A private vehicle was also set on fire, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

The number of injured rose to seven over the course of the day, three of whom were hospitalized. The rest of the wounded received outpatient treatment.

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Shortly after 5 p.m., a drone set fire to a warehouse in the Sviatoshynskyi district, which was hit again minutes later, according to Klitschko.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) reported that firefighters put out blazes at a single-story non-residential building and on open ground at a private property in the district.

No casualties were reported.

Air defenses again engaged drones over the capital late Thursday evening. Around 10:50 p.m. local time, debris fell in the yard of a private property in the Shevchenkivskyi district, setting fire to the ground floor of a house.

Klitschko also reported a drop in water pressure in the Holosiivskyi, Sviatoshynskyi, Solomianskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts on the capital’s right bank, caused by damage to energy facilities in the Kyiv region.

Engineers worked on switching water pumping stations to alternative power.

Overnight, Russian forces launched a massive drone attack on Kropyvnytskyi, the administrative center of the Kirovohrad region approximately 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Kyiv, killing three and injuring six people.

Dnipropetrovsk region

Russia attacked four districts of the Dnipropetrovsk region more than 10 times on Thursday, using drones, artillery and guided aerial bombs (KABs), regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said.

Strikes on the Slobozhanska community in the Dnipro district damaged a logistics company terminal, trucks and an administrative building, starting a fire, according to the SES.

In the Zelenodolsk community of the Kryvyi Rih district, attacks damaged infrastructure, a logistics company branch and a private home.

In the Nikopol area, Russian forces targeted Nikopol, Marhanets and Pokrovske, damaging infrastructure, educational facilities, a sports complex, warehouses, a shopping center, apartment buildings and private vehicles.

Private homes were also damaged in the Sloviansk community of the Synelnykove district.

Poltava and Sumy

A daytime Russian attack on an enterprise in the Poltava community injured one person and damaged a building and three cars, according to the SES.

In the Sumy region, the SES’s Phoenix evacuation unit used an armored vehicle to bring two women out of the border area of the Svesa community, which is under constant Russian shelling.

The attacks came as Russia responded to the latest effort by US President Donald Trump to enforce a ceasefire by launching fresh waves of attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, residential buildings and other critical infrastructure.

Trump also struck a diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, just three weeks after he signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act bill into law on Sept. 18.

According to Zelensky, Russian forces carried out several ballistic missile barrages in recent days while Shahed attack drones remained in Ukrainian airspace almost continuously, with close to 1,000 drones launched since the start of Wednesday, Oct. 14.

The strikes came without prior allied warning and amid tweaked Starshield parameters that limited terminals above 160 kilometers per hour (roughly 100 miles per hour), disrupting Kyiv’s drone operations.