Large Russian drone attack injures civilians in central Ukraine

A large-scale overnight Russian drone attack hit a residential building in the city of Dolynska in central Ukraine, injuring a mother and her two children and forcing evacuations from 38 apartments, a regional official said on Tuesday.

"A difficult night for the Kirovohrad region," Andriy Raikovych, the region's governor, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. "An enemy drone hit a high-rise building in Dolynska."

The mother and one of the children were taken to hospital, said Raikovych, who posted photos of flames bursting out of windows of a high-storey apartment building.

The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday that Russia launched 176 drones in a large-scale attack.

Ukraine's air force shot down 103 of the drones and 67 did not reach their targets, probably due to electronic countermeasures, the military said.

It did not specify what happened to the remaining six drones, but said that Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Cherkasy regions were impacted.

176 drones striking the centers of Ukrainian cities last night—is this Russia’s unmistakable and demonstrative “negotiating position”? Encouragement rather than coercion, a voluntary and bizarre renunciation of strength in favor of disheartening and unmotivated appeasement of the… pic.twitter.com/tCT7EUmzwe

— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) February 18, 2025

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said that drone debris fell in one of the districts of the capital, causing a fire at an industrial enterprise.

Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

Both Moscow and Kyiv deny targeting civilians in the war, which Russia started with its full-scale invasion on Ukraine nearly three years ago. But thousands of civilians have died in the conflict, the vast majority of them Ukrainian.

The attack took place as top Russian and US officials are meeting in Saudi Arabia for talks - without the participation of Kyiv or its European allies - on how to end the war in Ukraine.