Russia launches 133-drone attack on Ukraine overnight; 24 drones strike multiple sites, civilian casualties and infrastructure damage reported

Russian forces launched a large-scale drone strike against Ukraine during the night of August 2, using 133 unmanned aerial vehicles, Ukrainian military authorities reported. The Ukrainian Air Force said it intercepted and shot down 109 drones, while 24 struck 19 locations in several regions, leaving a trail of damage to private homes, apartment buildings, industrial facilities and essential infrastructure.

In Kharkiv, the regional military administration reported that three civilians were wounded in the attack. Oleg Sinegubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, said those injured included an eight-year-old girl, a 13-year-old adolescent and a 74-year-old resident. Sinegubov later reported that another drone had struck the grounds of a private house in the Novobavarsk district; authorities said information about the full extent of casualties was still being clarified.

Donetsk region also recorded heavy impacts. Vadim Filashkin, head of the Donetsk regional military administration, said there were 25 instances of shelling in the region over the most recent 24-hour period, with several populated settlements damaged. Shelling and drone strikes in the cities of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Druzhkivka injured at least four people, according to regional reports.

Druzhkivka suffered particularly severe damage to private housing, with eight individual homes reported damaged in the attacks; authorities confirmed two deaths in the town. In the vicinity of Pokrovsk, at the settlement of Belozerskoye, two multi-storey residential buildings were reported to have been completely destroyed and a third damaged. In the Kramatorsk district, a private home in the village of Spassko-Mykhailivka was also damaged; officials said there were no reported injuries in that incident.

Kherson experienced drone strikes as well; local authorities reported that two women sought medical assistance after the attacks. Across the affected regions, the pattern of strikes — primarily impacting residential areas and private houses — underscores the risks to civilians during this wave of attacks.

In Poltava region, officials reported that Russian drones struck two industrial enterprises and one important infrastructure object, according to Vitaliy Dyakivnich, head of the Poltava regional administration. The strikes prompted temporary emergency shutdowns in electricity and gas supplies, creating additional disruptions for residents and services in the area. Authorities have not provided a full damage assessment for the industrial sites or the infrastructure target.

Ukrainian air defenses’ claim of shooting down 109 drones reflects a large-scale defensive operation, but the strikes that penetrated defenses and hit ground targets resulted in civilian harm and infrastructure damage across multiple regions. Regional officials have been working to confirm casualty figures and assess the extent of property and utility damage. The attacks highlight ongoing threats to civilian safety and critical services amid continued hostilities.

Reporting on the events was provided by Azattyk/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Further details and confirmations of casualties and infrastructure damage are pending as local authorities continue to collect information from affected communities.