Key actors — tap for context
Volodymyr Zelenskyj
President of Ukraine since 2019; pushes Western allies for air defense support.
Why here: Estimates Russian capacity at roughly 120 ballistic missiles per month; now heading to the G7 summit.
More info →
Emmanuel Macron
President of France, one of the leading European advocates of military support for Ukraine.
Why here: At the G7 summit he wants to rebuild Western consensus on aid to Kyiv.
More info →Iskander
Russian short-range ballistic missile (Iskander-M), fast and difficult for air defense to intercept.
Why here: Russia used two of them this night — instead of the feared concentrated ballistic wave of dozens of missiles.
A mass of drones, two ballistic missiles
Ukrainian air defenses shot down or suppressed the overwhelming majority of the 221 drones, but some got through and struck nine locations. Ukrajinská pravda ↗ Concentrated Russian ballistic waves typically involve dozens of missiles: Zelenskyj estimates Russian capacity at roughly 120 ballistic missiles per month, which allows Moscow to launch several large waves a month. Yet such a deployment failed to materialize even on the fourth night, and Russia once again relied mainly on a mass of cheap drones. According to regional authorities, the attacks caused casualties and dozens of injuries across the country. The Sumy region paid the highest price: a Russian drone hit a residential building and killed a 67-year-old woman, while her two grandchildren ended up in hospital. Ukrajinská pravda ↗ The city of Konotop was left without electricity and water after the morning strike. Ukrajinská pravda ↗ In the Kharkiv region, eleven people were reported injured along with significant damage, while in the Dnipropetrovsk region — Pavlohrad, Nikopol and Kryvyi Rih — rescuers reported one dead and several injured.Ukrainian retaliation targeted refineries
The more visible strikes that night landed on Russia's rear areas. In Krasnodar Krai, the Afipsky refinery — one of the larger plants in southern Russia — caught fire following a reported Ukrainian drone attack; Russian authorities claimed it was debris from a downed drone. Kyiv Independent ↗ In occupied Crimea, explosions rocked Simferopol as a large-scale series of strikes swept across the peninsula; satellite imagery meanwhile confirmed damage to the Chonhar bridge, a key supply route to the peninsula. Kyiv Independent ↗Why the big strike still hasn't come
For a Slovak reader, the contrast is significant: while Russia has spent months threatening ballistic escalation, in practice it is doling it out sparingly and relying on drone pressure against civilian and energy infrastructure. Part of the explanation was offered by Zelenskyj himself — deliveries of American Patriot (PAC-3) interceptor missiles are being held up by the war in the Middle East, but Ukraine is meanwhile building up its own deep-strike capability, which it is using to pressure Russia's fuel and logistics system. The president is now heading to the G7 summit in France, where Emmanuel Macron wants to rebuild Western consensus on support for Kyiv. Le Monde ↗What hotinfo is following
- The final tally of casualties and damage from the overnight attacks, which regional authorities are still finalizing.
- Whether the pair of Iskanders remains an exception or Russia moves to a concentrated ballistic wave.
- The impact of Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries on fuel supplies to the Russian army.
- The outcome of the G7 summit and the fate of further air-defense deliveries for Ukraine.
