Zelenskyy Reports Massive Russian Missile and Drone Attack on Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, stated that Russian forces launched 16 ballistic missiles and more than 280 drones at the country during the night of October 26 and 27. The assault marked a sharp increase in the scale of recent strikes, with the Russian military focusing on logistical networks and urban infrastructure.

The attack began in the evening of October 26 when a Russian strike hit a university campus and the surrounding area. Zelenskyy reported that 12 people were injured in that initial incident, including five students and university staff. Before emergency crews finished clearing that site, Russian forces launched a second wave of ballistic missiles, extending the conflict into the early morning hours.

The overnight barrage combined Iskander-M and S-400 ballistic missiles with 280 Shahed drones, 69 of which were jet-powered. The attack also included Gerbera attack drones and Parodiya decoy UAVs. Kyiv served as the primary target, with strikes recorded on the Pivdennyi Bridge. Other impacts were reported in the Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odesa, Chernihiv, Sumy, Donetsk, Kherson, and Chernivtsi regions.

Ukrainian air defense forces worked through the night to counter the incoming threats. By 09:00 on October 27, the military reported that they had destroyed or jammed 257 Russian aerial assets. This total included two Iskander-M or S-400 ballistic missiles and 255 drones, with 56 of the drones being jet-powered Shaheds.

Zelenskyy attributed the extent of the damage to delays in receiving Western air defense supplies. He noted that interceptor packages for Patriot and NASAMS systems had faced prolonged holdups. He stated that these delays were directly assisting Russia in achieving the goals of its campaign. The issue had been raised the previous day when Zelenskyy announced that Kyiv had waited nearly a month for Pete Hegseth to approve the missile transfers.

Following the latest strikes, the President instructed his team to resume discussions with the United States regarding the pending deliveries. The coordination aimed to resolve the administrative bottlenecks preventing the deployment of the additional interceptor systems to Ukrainian airspace.