Russia launches 453 drones at Ukraine as Kyiv hits Russian oil sites

By Ahmet Taş | Wise News Press

KYIV, UKRAINE — Russia launched 453 drones across Ukraine overnight, with Ukrainian forces saying they neutralized 409 of them, while Kyiv simultaneously targeted oil and industrial facilities deep inside Russian territory.

The large-scale exchange underscored the growing role of long-range drones in the war as both sides intensify attacks on energy and economic infrastructure ahead of winter. Damage was reported in western and eastern Ukraine, while Russian authorities said a Ukrainian strike in Tatarstan killed two people and wounded 12.

Ukraine says 409 of 453 Russian drones were neutralized

Ukraine's armed forces said Russia launched 453 unmanned aerial vehicles of different types during the overnight assault.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, 409 aerial targets were destroyed or suppressed, while strikes were recorded at 13 locations. Debris from intercepted drones also fell at several other sites. Ukrainian reports said the attack included Shahed-type drones, decoys and other unmanned systems.

The barrage stretched Ukraine's air defenses across a broad area, with incidents reported from the country's western border regions to cities in the east.

In Stryi, in the western Lviv region near Poland, Russian drones damaged a multi-storey residential building, an annex near a school and structures around the railway station, according to Ukrainian officials cited by Euronews.

The proximity of some attacks to NATO member Poland has added to concerns over strikes on Ukrainian transport and logistics infrastructure close to the alliance's eastern frontier.

Reuters separately reported a Russian strike near the Dorohusk-Yahodyn crossing area on the Polish border, temporarily disrupting operations there.

Civilian casualties reported in Kharkiv region

In eastern Ukraine, Kharkiv Regional Military Administration head Oleh Syniehub said a 26-year-old woman was killed in Izium after an explosive device detonated.

He said the city of Kharkiv and 15 settlements across the region had also come under Russian attack, leaving at least three people wounded, including a 73-year-old woman.

The latest overnight assault followed another series of heavy Russian strikes across Ukraine in recent days.

Reuters reported that Russian attacks on Sept. 12 killed civilians and wounded dozens in several regions, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow had launched close to 500 drones during that wave of attacks.

Odesa and other southern regions have also faced repeated strikes on residential and economic infrastructure as Russia increases pressure on Ukraine's ports, fuel systems and electricity network.

Ukraine targets Russian oil and industrial facilities

Ukraine, meanwhile, continued its own long-range drone campaign against Russian energy and industrial targets.

Russian officials said Ukrainian drones struck an industrial facility in Nizhnekamsk in the Republic of Tatarstan, causing a fire. Two people were killed and 12 others injured, according to Russian authorities.

Nizhnekamsk is one of Russia's major petrochemical and refining centers, making the area strategically significant to Moscow's energy sector.

Ukraine's military intelligence also said it struck the Slavyansk-ECO oil refinery in Slavyansk-na-Kubani, in Russia's Krasnodar region.

According to the Ukrainian account, a critical oil-processing unit and part of the refinery's storage facilities were targeted.

Kyiv has increasingly used domestically produced long-range drones to attack Russian refineries, depots and other oil-sector facilities, arguing that they support Moscow's war effort and military logistics.

Russia, for its part, has concentrated many of its long-range strikes on Ukraine's electricity system, fuel infrastructure, industrial sites and transportation networks.

Energy infrastructure becomes a central battlefield before winter

The latest attacks reflect a broader shift in the conflict, with both countries increasingly trying to damage each other's ability to finance, supply and sustain military operations.

For Ukraine, Russian refineries are high-value targets because oil exports remain a major source of Russian state revenue, while refined fuel is essential to military logistics.

For Moscow, strikes on Ukrainian power generation, fuel distribution and industrial capacity are intended to weaken the country's economy and place additional strain on civilian life and defense production.

The intensification comes as winter approaches, when damage to electricity and heating infrastructure can have particularly serious consequences for civilians.

Recent Russian attacks have already hit fuel stations, power infrastructure and economic facilities across Ukraine. Reuters reported that Kyiv petrol stations were also struck in a series of attacks in the days preceding the latest barrage.

Both governments generally describe their strikes as attacks on infrastructure connected to the opposing side's war effort, though attacks on and near civilian areas continue to produce casualties.

Zelenskyy says he is ready to meet Putin at G20

Despite the escalation on the battlefield, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was prepared to travel to the G20 summit in Miami for a possible meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an interview on Saturday, Zelenskyy said the two leaders needed to meet and make decisions, stressing that the outcome of negotiations mattered more than public statements surrounding them.

The proposal comes as international efforts continue to find a formula for renewed peace talks.

Ukraine has repeatedly said that any settlement must preserve its sovereignty and provide long-term security guarantees, while Moscow continues to demand territorial and political concessions that Kyiv rejects.

The continuing military escalation illustrates the gap between diplomatic signaling and events on the ground.

Even as talks are discussed, both countries are expanding the range and frequency of strikes far beyond the front line.

Kremlin rejects proposed G20 meeting

The Kremlin quickly rejected Zelenskyy's proposal for an informal meeting in Miami.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described such an encounter as “impossible,” according to Euronews, and said Putin would meet Zelenskyy only in Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said Russia would not halt what Moscow calls its “special military operation” simply because negotiations were taking place.

The conflicting positions highlight the difficulties surrounding any renewed peace process.

Russia has publicly signaled that it remains open to talks under certain conditions, while Ukraine says negotiations must lead to concrete results rather than provide political cover for continuing military operations.

For now, the battlefield remains active.

Russia's use of 453 drones in a single overnight assault, combined with Ukrainian strikes hundreds of kilometers inside Russian territory, shows how deeply long-range drone warfare has become embedded in the conflict.

The figures and damage assessments released by both sides during wartime cannot always be independently verified in real time. Claims about interceptions, targets and military effects should therefore be understood as attributed statements from Ukrainian or Russian authorities unless independently confirmed.

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