Russia Launches Overnight Drone Barrage Across Ukraine, Hitting Odesa, Zaporizhzhia

Russia launched another wave of overnight drone attacks across Ukraine, striking transport infrastructure in Odesa, wounding civilians in Zaporizhzhia and leaving nearly 70,000 consumers without electricity in the Chernihiv region.

Russian forces attacked Odesa early Monday, July 13, damaging the city’s transport infrastructure, according to the head of the Odesa City Military Administration, Serhiy Lysak.

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“There was a hit on the city’s transport infrastructure. We are clarifying the details,” Lysak said.

Local Telegram channels reported that a parking lot was hit, setting dozens of vehicles on fire.

In a later update, the Odesa City Military Administration said Russian forces had struck a transport company, setting several buses on fire and damaging four private homes.

Authorities initially said that three men, aged 58, 62 and 66, were injured in the attack. All were hospitalized in stable condition.

Lysak later reported that the number of injured had risen, including a five-year-old child.

“The child was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds and is receiving all necessary medical care. Russia is a terrorist state,” he wrote.

The latest attack followed another Russian drone strike on the Odesa region late Sunday, when drones hit a residential building and a commercial facility.

According to preliminary reports, one drone struck the upper floors of an apartment building, while another damaged the roof of an Epicenter construction hypermarket. Ukrainian media reported the residential building was located in the Raiduzhnyi residential complex.

The strikes sparked fires that were later extinguished. Authorities are still assessing the extent of the damage and whether there were any casualties.

Russia also attacked Zaporizhzhia with drones on Sunday evening, injuring two women, aged 73 and 32, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov. Both victims were hospitalized.

Fedorov said the attack damaged apartment buildings, vehicles and one of the city’s hospitals.

“Facades, windows, balconies, roofs of buildings, as well as cars were damaged. There was a fire, which is currently being extinguished,” he said.

Later in the morning, Fedorov said five people injured in the overnight attack on Zaporizhzhia had been hospitalized. Two of them – a 41-year-old woman and a 15-year-old boy – are in critical condition.

Updated with reports of fatalities in Zaporizhzhia following the Russian strike.

In a later update, Fedorov said the death toll had risen to two.

“Unfortunately, two people were killed. Rescuers recovered the bodies of two victims from the rubble of a house destroyed by a Russian drone in Zaporizhzhia,” he wrote.

According to the latest information, 11 people were injured, including a 15-year-old boy.

“The boy and a 41-year-old woman remain in serious condition in hospital,” Fedorov added.

Meanwhile, Russian strikes on the Chernihiv region left about 69,000 electricity customers without power, regional utility Chernihivoblenergo said.

Power outages were reported in the Chernihiv and Koriukivka districts, while emergency crews were working to restore electricity.

President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Russia’s latest overnight strikes in a post on Telegram, accusing Moscow of once again targeting civilian infrastructure.

“Today, the Russians have once again ‘defeated’ completely civilian objects – ordinary passenger buses in Odesa, ordinary residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia, and an ordinary hospital in the Kharkiv region. Every day of such a war by Russia against life only proves the importance of supporting Ukraine in every way: militarily, politically, and simply on humanitarian grounds,” Zelensky wrote.

He added that the attacks demonstrate Ukraine’s urgent need for more air defense systems and stronger protection for civilians.

“The whole world sees that Ukraine needs more air defense, more protection for human life, and that the Russian leadership has gone mad because of this war and is irrationally refusing to end it.”

Zelensky also called for increased pressure on Moscow.

“The pressure on Russia must work. New sanctions against the aggressor, new support packages for Ukraine, and new projects, such as our European anti-ballistic project FREYJA, must all deliver results,” he said, adding that upcoming meetings and negotiations are expected to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia launched three Kh-59/69 guided air-launched missiles and 134 drones overnight, including Shahed attack drones, jet-powered UAVs, and Gerbera, Italmas, and Parody decoy drones.

The attack was repelled by fighter aircraft, air defense missile units, electronic warfare and unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups.

“As of 9:30 a.m., air defenses had destroyed or suppressed all three Kh-59/69 missiles and 123 enemy drones of various types in northern, southern, and eastern Ukraine,” the Air Force said.

The military also reported that six strike drones hit targets at five locations, while debris from intercepted drones fell at four locations.

The Air Force added Russia launched a second wave of air strikes against Odesa region on Monday morning. The results of Ukraine’s air defense response and the consequences of the attack are still being assessed.

This news story might be updated as more information becomes available.

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