On the night of February 26, 2026, Russia conducted one of the largest combined attacks in recent months, simultaneously using missiles of various types and hundreds of strike drones. Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa region, Poltava region, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk, and several other regions of Ukraine were under attack.
According to Ukrainian military and local authorities, the attack continued throughout the night and effectively transitioned into the morning hours, which has become a characteristic tactic of pressure on the country’s air defense system and energy infrastructure.
How the night attack developed: drones, missiles, and strategic aviation
Launch of ‘Shaheds’ and the flight of strategic bombers
The first alarm signals appeared at night when the Ukrainian Air Force detected the movement of strike drones from the northern and eastern directions. The drones moved along several routes — towards Kharkiv, Poltava, Chernihiv region, as well as across the Black Sea to the southern regions.
Around two in the morning, monitoring channels reported the takeoff of Russian strategic bombers Tu-95MS and Tu-160 from the ‘Engels’ and ‘Olenya’ airfields. Such flights traditionally indicate preparation for long-range missile launches.
Almost simultaneously, air alarms covered a significant part of Ukraine’s territory. Air defense forces began operations in several regions, and residents were urged to stay in shelters.
Strikes on cities and residential infrastructure
One of the most indicative episodes was a drone strike on a residential building in Kryvyi Rih. The drone hit a five-story building, damaging the structure and breaking windows. According to preliminary data, elderly residents of the city were injured.
In Kharkiv, the attack was of a combined nature — missiles and drones flew over the city simultaneously. Explosions were recorded in the Shevchenkivskyi, Kyivskyi, and Slobidskyi districts. Residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, and enterprises were affected. Among the injured were children.
Zaporizhzhia also came under massive attack. Both apartment buildings and the private sector, commercial facilities, and elements of urban infrastructure were damaged. Regional authorities reported dozens of damaged buildings.
Such attacks, aimed simultaneously at different regions, are seen by analysts as an attempt to overload the air defense system and create maximum pressure on the country’s energy sector.
In the midst of the events, the editorial team of NAnews — Israel News | Nikk.Agency notes: the nature of the shelling increasingly resembles a strategy of systematic exhaustion of infrastructure rather than separate military operations.
Geography of strikes: from Kyiv to southern Ukraine
Kyiv and region under missile threat
In the capital of Ukraine, the consequences of the attack were recorded in several districts. In the Darnytskyi district, apartments in a residential building were damaged due to falling debris, fires broke out in garages in the Holosiivskyi district, and a private house caught fire in the Pecherskyi district.
In the Kyiv region, destruction and fires occurred in the Vyshhorod and Brovary districts. Warehouses, private houses, and cars burned after the fall of debris from downed targets.
In the morning, the attack continued — the military warned of new missile launches from Russian territory and the threat of repeated drone strikes.
Strikes on energy and industrial facilities
Special attention during the attack was focused on energy infrastructure. In the south of the Odesa region, a strike on an energy facility was recorded, confirming ongoing attempts to disable systems providing electricity and heat to the regions.
In the Poltava region, industrial enterprise facilities and power lines were damaged. More than 18,000 household consumers and almost two thousand enterprises were temporarily left without electricity.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, attacks continued almost all night. The Nikopol district and Kryvyi Rih direction were under attack, where houses, cars, and even solar panels were damaged — a rare but indicative episode of impact on alternative energy.
Scale of the attack and Kyiv’s reaction
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky stated that 420 drones and 39 missiles of various types, including ballistic ones, were launched across the country. Destruction was recorded in at least eight regions, and dozens of people were injured.
According to him, strikes were also made on gas infrastructure and electrical substations, which directly affects the stability of the energy system in the winter period.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that air defense forces managed to destroy a significant number of targets: dozens of missiles and hundreds of drones were intercepted. However, it was not possible to completely avoid hits — direct strikes and falling debris were recorded at dozens of locations.
The military emphasizes that the attack is effectively ongoing, as separate groups of drones remain in the airspace.
The situation confirms the trend of recent months: Russia increasingly uses high-density combined strikes, trying to simultaneously impact energy, cities, and the psychological resilience of Ukraine’s population.