Six people died and numerous individuals sustained injuries as Russia and Ukraine exchanged heavy overnight drone attacks on Friday. The strikes occurred just two days after the conclusion of US-mediated peace talks held in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In Russia, Volgograd Governor Andrey Bocharov stated on Telegram that falling debris from downed Ukrainian drones struck an enterprise in the southern industrial zone. He initially reported no casualties before confirming that four people were killed and two others injured in the overnight action.
Bocharov added that in the settlement of Svetly Yar, window glazing and balconies were damaged across three five-story residential buildings and a youth centre. Municipal authorities received instructions to assess the destruction and begin cleanup and repair work.
Rostov Governor Yury Slyusar reported that one person was injured after drone debris caused damage in Rostov-on-Don and multiple southern districts. He specified that the damaged infrastructure included residential buildings, a production facility and a warehouse.
Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin stated that air defences downed 467 drones between Thursday afternoon and Friday morning as they headed toward the Moscow region. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed it intercepted 1,198 Ukrainian drones across 17 regions, the Black Sea and Crimea.
Ukraine countered with its own interception figures, as the country’s Air Force claimed to have shot down 80 out of 117 attack drones launched overnight. Local authorities reported structural damage and casualties in multiple Ukrainian regions following the bombardment.
In Kyiv, the local department of the State Emergency Service said one person was injured after Russian strikes hit a hospital in the Shevchenkivskyi district. Medical staff evacuated 30 people to safety while emergency responders rescued seven others and extinguished a fire at the facility.
Rivne Governor Oleksandr Koval reported that six people were injured in the northwestern regional capital after a drone struck a multistory building. In the Odesa region, Governor Oleh Kiper announced that one person was killed and five others injured following strikes that damaged residential buildings and passenger cars.
Local authorities in the Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Vinnytsia and Zaporizhzhia regions also reported damage from overnight strikes. Officials in Zaporizhzhia confirmed that a 17-year-old boy was killed in their area.
Independent verification of the claims made by Moscow and Kyiv is difficult due to the ongoing conflict. The military escalation follows trilateral negotiations in the United Arab Emirates, which marked the first peace talks between the warring nations since a February meeting in Geneva.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner represented Washington at the Abu Dhabi meetings before traveling to Moscow on Thursday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kushner subsequently met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Dublin on Thursday evening, stating that the discussions achieved meaningful progress and paved the way for the next round of negotiations to include European partners.
