Russia launches wave of overnight drones towards Ukrainian cities

Russia launched a wave of overnight drone attacks on several Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv as well as cities in the Donetsk and Sumy regions.

On Sunday evening, the Russian Armed Forces attacked Ukrainian territory with 83 drones, 61 of which were shot down while 22 were “locationally lost, without negative consequences,” according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

One drone hit a residential area in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy. Another hit a parking lot near a high-rise building, damaging at least three houses and roughly 20 vehicles. According to the State Emergency Service, 65 residents were evacuated. One woman was hospitalised, while no casualties were reported.

In the Donetsk region, at least one person was killed and nine others injured after the Russian army dropped a FAB-500 bomb on the city of Kramatorsk.

Seven houses, several apartment buildings, a family outpatient clinic, an educational centre and commercial facilities were damaged.

Olena Sharshakova, head of the outpatient clinic, said that some equipment was lost but the majority of medication stores in the premises was saved.

Meanwhile, two women and three men were wounded in the shelling of a residential neighbourhood in Kostyantynivka, the local prosecutor’s office said.

In both cities, dozens of cars, power lines and gas pipelines were damaged.

In Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a drone attack sparked a fire in a non-residential building, with no injuries reported.

Ukraine drone attacks on Russia’s Krasnodar Krai

In Russia, authorities said the debris of a Ukrainian UAV damaged the roof of a 19-storey residential complex in Krasnodar. They reported no injuries or casualties.

Meanwhile, explosions were heard near the Afipsky oil refinery, a major oil depot located roughly 200 kilometres from the frontline. The Krasnodar regional governor wrote on Telegram that a drone in the area had been shot down.

Russia “leveraging” technological adancements against NATO states

According to a report by the ISW, Russia has been using its “experience on the battlefield in Ukraine to innovate new technologies,” to carry out attacks against NATO states.

Its authors claim that Russia is actively testing its latest drones and electronic warfare equipment in military operations on Ukrainian territory, while the organisation also cited the reported failure by German authorities to shoot down suspected Russian reconnaissance drones near a German military facility last month.

The report notes that last year the bloc’s nations faced an increased number of “hybrid operations and sabotage” by Russia.

“NATO states need to develop their defence capabilities as Russia continues to use its experience on the battlefield in Ukraine to introduce new technologies,” it added.

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Russia has been suffering from labour shortages, in both the civilian and defence sectors, since the start of its full-scale invation of Ukraine. The report suggests that Moscow’s partnership with North Korea is aims at making up for this lack of resources.

According to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, thousands of North Korean workers arrived in Russia in 2024.

“North Korea’s provisions of materiel and troops to Russia have significantly increased over the course of 2024, however, and the several thousands of North Korean workers that arrived in Russia recently may be the beginning of larger influxes in the future that could more significantly help Russia’s labor shortage issues,” the ISW report concluded.