Four people, including a child, were killed in Russian attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region, Ukrainian officials said Saturday, as Ukraine struck another oil refinery inside Russia.
Residents in and around the Ukrainian capital continue to endure regular drone and missile barrages, with Kyiv’s depleted air defenses struggling to repel the attacks amid Moscow’s four-year-old full-scale invasion.
At the same time, repeated Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil facilities have disrupted fuel supplies and fueled growing unease among Russians.
Two grandparents and their 3-year-old grandson were killed early Saturday when multiple Russian drones destroyed their home in the Brovary district of the Kyiv region, northeast of the capital, local authorities said.
Three other members of the family and a neighbor who rushed to help were hospitalized, officials said. The attack reduced the house to rubble, while nearby outbuildings and cars were also destroyed.
In Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least one other person died in a "strike involving six ballistic missiles against civilian infrastructure."
In its daily report, Ukraine’s air force said it had downed or intercepted 135 of 151 drones launched by Russia overnight. The attack also involved six ballistic missiles and other guided missiles.
Russia has relentlessly pounded civilian areas of Ukraine, even though Moscow insists its forces target only military facilities.
Moscow is exploiting Ukraine’s critical shortage of interceptors for U.S.-made Patriot systems, the only air defense weapon in its arsenal capable of shooting down ballistic missiles.
Zelenskyy has pleaded with other countries, especially the U.S., to send more of the ammunition made scarcer by the war in Iran. Failing that, he wants to produce Patriot ammunition in Ukraine or win permission from Elon Musk to use his Starlink satellite communications system to guide strikes inside Russia that could hit its missile launchers.
Following the latest attacks, Zelenskyy appealed on X for more sanctions to "prevent the production of these ballistic missiles," along with "anti-ballistic capabilities" and "interceptor missiles."
Ukraine’s air defenses shot down around 5,300 drones and missiles last month, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Friday, just under 60% of the approximately 9,000 attack drones and missiles Russia fired during the same period.
In Russia, six people were wounded when a fire broke out at the Ilsky Oil Refinery in the southern Krasnodar region after debris from a falling drone struck the facility, local officials said.
Ukraine’s almost daily long-range drone and missile strikes, using domestically developed weapons, have battered Russian oil facilities for months. The campaign has contributed to a fuel crisis that is embarrassing the Kremlin.
The latest attacks came hours after Zelenskyy arrived in Serbia on Friday for his first official visit to the country, one of the few European nations that has maintained friendly relations with Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine.
"Important talks are scheduled for today and tomorrow," Zelenskyy said Friday. He added that he would meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Prime Minister Djuro Macut.
"We will discuss expanding economic ties between our countries, relations with the European Union and other areas where we can find practical opportunities that benefit our peoples, as well as security issues," Zelenskyy said.
