MOSCOW, Russia: Russia launched a major overnight missile and drone attack on Ukraine on September 22, killing four people and damaging industrial and energy facilities, according to Ukrainian officials.
The strikes came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with U.S. President Donald Trump at the United Nations in New York.
The attacks focused heavily on Ukraine’s industrial regions, including Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava. Russian forces struck businesses, warehouses and industrial facilities in Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih and Pavlohrad, while an attack on an energy facility in the north left almost 100,000 consumers without electricity in Chernihiv region.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said Russia was deliberately attacking economic infrastructure across the country.
“Russia deliberately targets businesses, farms, warehouses, railways, energy facilities and residential buildings,” he said on Telegram.
The Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched 212 drones along with several types of missiles during the overnight attack. The weapons included Oniks anti-ship missiles, ballistic missiles and four Kalibr cruise missiles. Ukrainian forces said they destroyed or disrupted 186 of the incoming aerial targets, including 177 drones.
In Dnipro, a Russian missile struck a facility belonging to Interpipe, Ukraine’s largest pipe producer. The company said four people were killed and seven others were wounded in the strike.
Other businesses and industrial sites were damaged in Pavlohrad and Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s hometown. The attacks also affected important production centers in Dnipropetrovsk, a region known for machine-building, steel production and other industries.
Russia said its forces had targeted Ukrainian industrial and military facilities. Its Defense Ministry said the strikes hit fuel and energy infrastructure, port facilities and vessels being used by the Ukrainian military.
Ukraine also reported serious damage to its oil and gas infrastructure. Energy company Naftogaz said at least five ballistic missiles struck unused technical facilities at an oil and gas site in Poltava region.
Naftogaz said the attack caused severe damage, making it effectively impossible to restore and operate the facility. The site had been repeatedly targeted by Russian missiles and drones since the start of the full-scale war in 2022.
Russia said its forces had also struck an oil refinery in Kremenchuk in the Poltava region.
The latest attacks came amid a sharp increase in strikes against economic and energy targets by both Russia and Ukraine. With fighting on the ground largely stalled after more than four and a half years of war, both sides have increasingly used long-range missiles and drones against infrastructure linked to the other side’s economy and war effort.
Ukraine has stepped up its own attacks deep inside Russia in recent months, particularly against oil refineries. The Ukrainian military said on September 22 that it had struck an oil refinery in Ufa, more than 1,300 kilometers from Ukraine, as well as the Kuibyshev refinery in Russia’s Samara region.
Russian officials said Ukrainian drones also attacked civilian areas in the Samara region. The regional governor said one person was killed and four were injured. Both Russia and Ukraine deny deliberately targeting civilians.
The latest exchange of attacks also raised questions about an energy truce. Trump said last week that Russia and Ukraine had agreed not to attack energy targets. However, the apparent pause quickly broke down, with Russia striking targets in Kyiv and Ukraine attacking Russian oil facilities.