Overnight Russian drone attacks triggered a fire in Kyiv, injured a woman, and damaged multiple homes in the northeastern city of Sumy, Ukrainian officials reported on Monday. According to the Ukrainian military’s Telegram account, air defenses intercepted 61 out of 83 drones, while electronic warfare likely downed 22 more. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated on Telegram that the fire, which broke out in a non-residential building, did not result in any injuries. However, the city reported that the blaze, fueled by gas and oil, caused damage to over 100 apartments in the complex. Local authorities confirmed the fire had been extinguished. Meanwhile, Sumy’s regional governor, Volodymyr Artyukh, shared a video on Telegram showing debris at the scene, with emergency responders searching for survivors. He noted that the blast had severely damaged two floors of the building.
The Ukrainian military said that on the night of February 10, it had intercepted and destroyed a total of 35 Shahed-type drones, including three in the Bryansk region, four in Belgorod, two in Kursk, and one each in Tambov, Oryol, and Tula regions. It said the drones were armed with explosives and were targeting industrial facilities, military bases, and other strategic infrastructure objects. The air force also destroyed a missile and rocket launcher in the Luhansk region, the army’s press service said.
Ukraine is struggling to hold back a ferocious Russian campaign along its eastern front, with thousands of civilians killed since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022. It has lost control of many towns, villages, and hamlets, and its power grid is constantly disrupted. It is facing a severe winter with limited heating, fuel, and food supplies.
Russia launched a massive drone and missile attack on Sumy overnight, and the city is still reeling from the damage. Pictures posted by the emergency services from the site revealed cars engulfed in flames next to a high-rise building that had impaired windows. The emergency services expressed regret over the tragedy and said they checked each apartment in the damaged building for possible residents.
The photos showed cars parked in the street engulfed in flames, as well as more than 30 damaged buildings and some 300 impaired windows. In a separate incident, Russian drones fired on a Ukrainian military depot in the central city of Zhytomyr. It is unclear what the targets were, but Reuters reports that the facility is used for storing ammunition. Its destruction has exacerbated tensions between the two countries.
In late January, a drone attack damaged operations at the vast Ust-Luga fuel processing and shipping terminal in western Russia, which is key to Russia’s energy exports. That forced Novatek, the world’s biggest oil producer, to halt output at the facility for three days. Its CEO, Alexei Miller, warned that the impact on the oil industry could be significant. The company is considering moving the terminal to a safer location in Ukraine.
