Ukraine’s General Staff said its air defenses shot down 66 of the 100 Russian drones launched overnight, along with Onyx missiles targeting several regions.
Local authorities said rescue teams were extinguishing fires and clearing debris in the eastern city of Balakliia after Russian strikes on residential buildings killed three people.
Officials also reported that three people were killed and at least 19 others injured in overnight attacks on residential areas in the Sumy region in northern Ukraine.
Ukrainian police said another 12 people were injured in the city of Sumy following an attack involving guided aerial bombs.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported that three people were killed in Russian shelling, while additional casualties were reported in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
The Kherson regional administration said a drone strike targeted a minibus in the southern region, injuring six people.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, cited by TASS, said its forces struck two dry cargo ships near Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa late Wednesday, claiming the vessels were transporting military cargo.
The governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region said one sailor was killed and several others were injured after a Russian strike hit a commercial cargo ship in the Black Sea.
Large-Scale Ukrainian Drone Attack
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 605 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory and the Crimean Peninsula overnight.
The ministry added that local authorities reported minor damage to a logistics center operated by Russian e-commerce company Wildberries.
The governor of Russia’s Tver region said debris from a Ukrainian drone attack caused minor damage to the facade of a Wildberries logistics center.
According to Reuters, the strike is the latest in a series of Ukrainian attacks targeting Wildberries facilities, with at least 20 company warehouses reportedly hit since July 18.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv had targeted oil refineries in Russia’s Bashkortostan and Yaroslavl regions.
Russia Denies Recruiting Mercenaries
In a separate development, the Russian Embassy in Colombia denied a report alleging links to networks suspected of recruiting Colombian mercenaries to support Russia in its war against Ukraine.
Colombian broadcaster Noticias Caracol published an investigation on Monday containing testimonies and documents alleging that Moscow had recruited Colombians as part of its strategy against Kyiv.
The Russian diplomatic mission rejected the claims, saying it had “no connection” to the recruitment networks mentioned in the report and no knowledge of how their activities were financed.
However, relatives of Colombians recruited for overseas security work, most of them retired military personnel, said their family members had been subjected to mistreatment in both Russia and Ukraine.
Last November, Russia sentenced two Colombian nationals to 13 years in prison after accusing them of fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro has claimed that at least 7,000 Colombians are fighting in Russia and Ukraine for financial gain.
The United Nations estimated in March that at least 10,000 Colombians had been recruited abroad to participate in armed conflicts worldwide, often under what it described as “inhumane conditions.”
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