Russian missile and drone strikes on Kyiv and surrounding areas overnight into Wednesday killed 17 people and injured 44, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The attack involved 24 ballistic missiles, four hypersonic or supersonic missiles, and 115 drones, targeting civilian infrastructure including warehouses, a railway station, and logistics hubs. Zelenskyy stated the strikes hit sites with no military connection, naming a brewing company and building materials facilities. Fires erupted in Brovary, Velyka Dymerka, Kvitneve, and Peremoha following the barrage.
The Russian Defence Ministry claimed the strikes hit transport and logistics centres involved in military activity, including a Nova Poshta sorting facility it said stored drone components and electronic warfare systems. Nova Poshta confirmed a cluster munition destroyed its Kyiv sorting centre. Serhii Beskrestnov, adviser to Ukraine's president on defence technology, said the enemy is now attacking civilian economic infrastructure indiscriminately. Zelenskyy blamed delays in allied deliveries of ballistic interceptors for the casualties, saying such weapons could have prevented the deaths. Ukraine continues to face shortages in Patriot system interceptors, critical for countering ballistic threats. Ukrainian forces responded with drone attacks on a Wildberries warehouse in Russia's Tula region, south of Moscow.
Zelenskyy's assertion that delayed interceptor supplies directly led to civilian deaths places political pressure on allies to accelerate arms deliveries. The conflicting claims over the military relevance of targeted logistics sites complicate assessments of proportionality in the ongoing strikes. Ukraine's reliance on foreign air defence systems underscores a strategic vulnerability as attrition intensifies.
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