Russian forces launched aerial attacks targeting several regions across Ukraine while seeking to advance in heavy fighting at the front, Ukrainian officials said.
Meanwhile, a Russian governor blamed Ukraine for a drone stroke that halted operations at a pumping station on a major oil pipeline on September 27.
The strikes come at a time when prospects for peace seem as distant as ever and many expect Russia’s full-scale invasion to continue into a fifth year this winter.
Russian strikes hit critical infrastructure and a residential building in a “massive attack” on the Vinnytsia region in west-central Ukraine, regional official Natalia Zabolotna said on Telegram. Railway service was disrupted but no casualties were reported.
Drone strikes damaged two residential high-rises as well as other structures in Zaporizhzhya, closer to the front, regional military administration chief Ivan Fedorov said. The city and surrounding region have come under frequent attack recently.
A man and woman were wounded in a missile strike on the Sumy region, which borders Russia and is also under frequent attack, and a private home and commercial premises were damaged by Russian shelling in the southern city of Kherson, which lies across the Dnieper River from Russian-occupied territory, officials said.
Ukrainian air defenses shot down or neutralized 97 of 115 drones launched by Russia overnight, Ukraine’s air force said. The military reported heavy fighting on parts of the front over the previous 24 hours, particularly around the embattled city of Pokrovsk.
The governor of Russia’s Chuvashia region, Oleg Nikolayev, said Ukrainian drones struck an oil pumping station near the village of Konar, which is about 1,200 kilometers from Ukraine. Operations were halted and the strike caused minor damage and no casualties, he said on Telegram.
Ukraine has stepped up attacks targeting refineries, export terminals, and other oil infrastructure, seeking to undermine Russia’s capacity to fight the war by reducing its export revenues and cause domestic discontent by creating shortages and pushing up prices.
A US effort to broker a peace deal has brought little progress. The positions of Ukraine and Russia remain far apart, and US President Donald Trump has so far not succeeded in organizing a trilateral summit or a face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
