Massive overnight drone strikes damage Kyiv and Odesa infrastructure, spark fires

Russian forces launch a heavy overnight assault on Ukrainian population centers and infrastructure, Ukrainian authorities say, using a large wave of strike unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles that set multiple fires, damaged energy supplies and left civilians dead and injured. The Ukrainian Air Force Command reports 156 strike drones were employed, including roughly 110 Shahed-type UAVs, with additional drones identified by some sources as Gerbera and other types.

In Odesa city, the head of the city military administration, Serhiy Lysak, reports damage to an infrastructure facility and to residential buildings, including one private home destroyed and at least four others damaged. Two people were reported injured in the city attack. Parts of the Peresyp district temporarily lost electricity, emergency crews moved to restore power, and a heating point and a local resilience center were opened to assist residents enduring very cold winter weather.

Authorities in Odesa Oblast describe wider damage across the region to energy, port, transport, industrial and residential infrastructure. Officials report a civilian dry-cargo vessel and a warehouse were damaged, roofs and glazing were blown out on scores of private houses and some apartment buildings, and emergency services extinguished fires and shifted critical facilities to backup power. Regional teams worked through the night to stabilize the grid after recent strikes in December and early January had already left parts of southern Ukraine vulnerable.

In the capital, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko and city officials say air defenses engaged incoming threats as a strike in the Solomianskyi district triggered a large fire. Video circulating online shows flames and emergency crews at the scene. City reports indicate a non-residential building was struck and falling debris damaged nearby residences, shattering windows and sparking additional blazes. Kyiv region authorities report separate strikes outside the city, in Vyshhorod and Obukhiv districts.

The head of Kyiv Regional Military Administration, Mykola Kalashnyk, reports the deadliest single incident: a strike on a two-storey private house in Vyshhorod that sparked a major fire and killed a woman born in 1949. Three others suffered shrapnel wounds, including a child born in 2009. In Obukhiv district, two private homes were damaged with blown-out windows and affected facades and roofs. Ukrainian officials say attacks were continuing as assessments proceed.

The wave of strikes also disrupted railway infrastructure in Zhytomyr Oblast and prompted emergency rolling outages in some regions while energy specialists worked to restore supplies. Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy and regional crews are mobilized to repair damage, switch critical systems to generators and prevent a broader collapse of winter services.

The scale and targets of the assault underscore a continuing campaign to degrade Ukrainian civilian resilience and energy security during winter. Attacks on civilian infrastructure and non-combatants carry significant humanitarian consequences and pose legal questions under international humanitarian law, which protects civilians and civilian objects in armed conflict. The growing reliance on strike drones also raises concerns about the diffusion of weaponized UAVs and their impact on regional stability and maritime trade linked to Black Sea ports.

Emergency services, State Emergency Service units, utility crews and military administration teams remain on site extinguishing fires, documenting damage and urging residents to follow official safety updates as assessments continue.