Russia and Ukraine Exchange Overnight Strikes as Casualties Reported
Russia and Ukraine exchanged overnight attacks Thursday, with at least two people killed after a passenger train was struck in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, while Ukrainian authorities said their forces hit an oil refinery in Russia.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported that the Russian strike hit a passenger train in Berezivka district, causing the locomotive to catch fire. The blaze was later brought under control. Officials said 340 people were aboard the train at the time of the attack.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strike, saying the train was hit by a jet-powered drone and emphasizing that the target was civilian. He called for additional air defense support and greater international pressure on Moscow.
Russian strikes also damaged port infrastructure in Odesa overnight, according to the Izmail District State Administration. The attacks caused a fire and disrupted electricity supplies in parts of Izmail, a major port city on the Danube River. Ukraine’s DTEK said it was working to restore power.
Ukraine’s Air Force said its air defenses intercepted 111 of 133 Russian drones launched overnight. Russia, meanwhile, claimed its forces struck Ukrainian military-related sites in the ports of Izmail and Reni, including a deployment area and infrastructure it said was being used to handle military supplies.
Strikes Inside Russia
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces had intercepted 362 Ukrainian drones across 17 regions, as well as over the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and Crimea.
In Bashkortostan, regional authorities reported injuries and fires following a Ukrainian drone attack. Debris from an intercepted drone reportedly fell in an industrial area in Salavat, where a fire was also reported.
Wildberries, Russia’s largest online marketplace, said one of its facilities was located in the affected industrial zone. The company said firefighters were responding and that the site had been evacuated as a precaution, adding that no goods were stored there.
Ukraine’s General Staff later confirmed that it had targeted the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat oil refinery, claiming the facility was hit and a fire followed.
Kyiv has also stepped up drone attacks on Wildberries logistics sites, accusing the company of supporting Russia’s military supply network. The company and Russian authorities have rejected the allegation, maintaining that the facilities are civilian.
Meanwhile, Orenburg Governor Yevgeny Solntsev said key equipment at the Orsk oil refinery remained out of service following an earlier Ukrainian strike. He said repairs could take up to six months because much of the equipment is imported and affected by sanctions.
The continued attacks on energy, logistics and transport infrastructure underscore the intensifying long-range drone campaign between Russia and Ukraine as the war continues.
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