Ukraine: 16 ballistic missiles and 280 drones hit Kyiv and ten other regions

Russia launched 16 ballistic missiles and more than 280 drones at Ukraine during the night of October 26 to 27. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the figures on X, stating that the attacks resulted in casualties and physical damage in Kyiv, including a hit on the Pivdennyi Bridge. He described the wave of strikes as a serious escalation targeting Ukrainian logistics.

The missile and drone barrage affected eleven oblasts: Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odesa, Chernihiv, Sumy, Donetsk, Kherson, and Chernivtsi. Zelenskyy noted that Russian forces primarily targeted energy infrastructure, logistics hubs, and urban facilities across these regions. Early reports indicated that Ukrainian air defense units destroyed or jammed 257 aerial assets by 9:00 a.m. on October 27. This count includes two Iskander-M or S-400 ballistic missiles and 255 drones, including Shahed, Gerbera, and Parodiya models.

A strike on a university campus in Kyiv on the evening of October 26 left 12 people injured. Five of the injured are students or university staff. Emergency services were still addressing the aftermath of that initial explosion when the ballistic missile salvo began. Zelenskyy pointed to specific logistical delays in the defense sector, claiming that artificial and prolonged delays in delivering interceptor packages for Patriot and NASAMS systems have directly helped Russia achieve its objectives. He said Kyiv had waited nearly a month for US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to sign off on these missiles and instructed his team to reopen discussions with the US side.

Ukrainian authorities continue to assess the damage across the affected cities. The military has released preliminary figures on intercepted threats while local teams work to restore power and clear debris from the urban infrastructure.