A combined missile and drone attack on the Kyiv region killed at least four people and wounded at least 15 overnight into Saturday, according to the head of the regional administration.
Three of the wounded were in critical condition, of whom two were undergoing surgery, Mykola Kalashnyk reported on Saturday. The attack hit four districts, damaging residential buildings, educational institutions, enterprises and critical infrastructure, Kalashnyk added in a social media post.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the main target for the overnight strikes was “the energy infrastructure of the Kyiv region.” He said Russia launched around 430 drones of various types during the night, as well as 68 missiles.
Russia’s Defense Ministry on Saturday said the nighttime strikes targeted energy and industrial facilities serving Ukraine’s armed forces, as well as military airfields.
Genya SAVILOV /AFP via Getty Images
The strikes came days after the U.S. postponed peace talks between Russia and Ukraine scheduled for this week, citing the war in the Middle East.
As U.S. and Israeli missiles and bombs rain on Iran, Russia has responded with words of indignation. Moscow is providing intelligence to Iran regarding U.S. positions in the Middle East during the war, multiple sources told CBS News last week. The Kremlin’s sharing of information about U.S. assets marked the first known indication that Russia is indirectly aiding Iran.
But Russia has taken no direct action to support its ally. Moscow’s failure to help another ally, after the 2024 ouster of former Syrian ruler Bashar Assad and January’s U.S. arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, highlighted the limits of its influence – but the Kremlin expects to reap benefits from the Iran war.
Russia is already profiting from a surge in global energy prices, and could hope that the Mideast war will detract attention from Ukraine, deplete Western arsenals and force NATO allies to reduce military support for Kyiv.
Zelenskyy on Saturday called on Kyiv’s Western partners to pay “one hundred percent attention” to the need to boost the production of air defense missiles.
“Russia will try to exploit the war in the Middle East to cause even greater destruction here in Europe, in Ukraine,” he said in a post on social media.
“We must be fully aware of the real level of the threat and prepare accordingly, namely: in Europe, we need to develop the production of air defense missiles – especially those capable of countering ballistic threats – as well as all other systems necessary to truly protect lives,” he said.
Kyiv is also awaiting White House approval for a major drone production agreement proposed by Ukraine last year, Zelenskyy said Thursday, as countries scramble to modernize their air defenses after the Iran war exposed shortcomings.
Also on Thursday, Zelenskyy criticized the 30-day U.S. waiver on Russian oil sanctions amid the war in the Middle East, saying it is “not the right decision” and won’t help bring a stop to Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion of Ukraine. Some 124 million barrels of Russian oil are currently at sea globally, CBS News has learned.
“This easing alone by the United States could provide Russia with about $10 billion for the war,” Zelenskyy said. “This certainly does not help peace.”
Overnight into Saturday, Ukrainian drones hit an oil refinery and port in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, local Russian officials reported.
Krasnodar authorities said three people were hurt in a strike on Port Kavkaz, a port opposite Crimea used to ship liquefied natural gas and grains. A service vessel and pier infrastructure were damaged, they said in a social media post. One person was hospitalized, they added in a separate post later.
Falling drone debris also sparked a fire at the region’s Afipsky oil refinery, authorities said in a separate Telegram post. They said no one was hurt, but did not immediately comment on damage.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 87 Ukrainian drones during the night, including 16 over the Krasnodar region and 31 over the nearby Sea of Azov.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that 16 drones had been downed on the approach to the Russian capital as of early afternoon on Saturday.
Earlier this week, Russian and Ukrainian officials both claimed front-line progress, with Ukraine saying it pushed Moscow’s forces back across places on the front line and the Kremlin insisting Russia’s invasion of its neighbor is making progress.
About two weeks ago, Russia signaled that it was in no rush to make a deal to end its war on Ukraine.
“Have you heard anything from us about deadlines? We have no deadlines, we have tasks. We are getting them done,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told state media in Moscow.
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