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Rescue workers put out a fire at a building destroyed after a Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Friday, June 26, 2026.<\/p>\n
Kateryna Klochko\/AP Photo\/Kateryna Klochko<\/p>\n
In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters extinguish a fire in a residential building following a Russian drone attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Friday, June 26, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)<\/p>\n
Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP<\/p>\n
In this photo, provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters extinguish a fire in a residential building following a Russian drone attack in Sumy region, Ukraine, Friday, June 26, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)<\/p>\n
Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP<\/p>\n
Rescue workers put out a fire at a building destroyed after a Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Friday, June 26, 2026.<\/p>\n
Kateryna Klochko\/AP Photo\/Kateryna Klochko<\/p>\n
Ukraine launched a major nighttime attack on a dozen Russian regions, Russian-held Crimea and the surrounding seas, Moscow\u2019s Defense Ministry said Friday, in what appeared to be one of Kyiv\u2019s biggest drone assaults since the Kremlin\u2019s full-scale invasion more than four years ago.<\/p>\n
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Russian air defenses intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones, Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry said. The previous biggest Ukrainian attack over the past year, as Ukraine has accelerated its drone development, involved 556 drones on May 17.<\/p>\n
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In an effort to turn the tables on Russia\u2019s grinding war of attrition, Ukrainian long-range drones have been battering oil production and energy facilities behind the front line and deep inside Russia.<\/p>\n
The campaign has choked Russian fuel supplies and military deliveries, stalling Moscow’s efforts on the battlefield, Western officials and analysts say, and has heaped pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n
A Russian chemical plant is reportedly hit<\/p>\n
Initial damage reports from Russia after the overnight attack provided scant information. Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry usually doesn’t say what was targeted in Ukraine\u2019s drone attacks, nor does it detail any damage.<\/p>\n
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Russian independent online outlet Astra reported that a chemical plant and a hydroelectric plant in Novomoskovsk were attacked and caught fire. The Associated Press couldn\u2019t independently verify the report, and there was no official confirmation.<\/p>\n
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 47 Ukrainian drones were downed as they flew toward the Russian capital. He did not report any casualties or damage.<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s Security Service said it used drones to strike Russian navy ships and air defense radars in Kerch, an important port city in Crimea.<\/p>\n
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The targets were two reconnaissance and minelaying ships, the Volga and the Vyatka, and the cargo-passenger ferry Petropavlovsk, the agency said, claiming that the strikes started a large fire. The claim could not be independently verified.<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy hints at a 40-day blitz of Russia<\/p>\n
The major attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that he had ordered \u201ca 40-day influence operation,\u201d believed to mean an escalation of attacks, aimed at \u201ccompelling (Russia) to end the war\u201d after U.S. peace efforts over the past year yielded no breakthrough.<\/p>\n
Still, as they have occasionally in the past, Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners of war, with 160 from each side returning home on Friday, officials said.<\/p>\n
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Ukraine has racked up a list of successful strikes, including hitting targets in Moscow and St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n
Zelenskyy said he got further promises of foreign support when he attended a recent summit of G7 leaders, including from U.S. President Donald Trump, and that the promised aid will help Ukraine step up its effort to force Putin to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n
A NATO summit next month could be another key moment in beefing up Ukraine’s military.<\/p>\n
Russian attacks killed 3 civilians and wounded 29, Ukraine says<\/p>\n
Two people were killed and seven were wounded in Russian attacks on the northeastern Kharkiv region over the previous 24 hours, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said Friday.<\/p>\n
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Russian forces struck the city of Kharkiv and 16 other settlements across the region, Syniehubov added.<\/p>\n
On Friday morning, another Russian drone attack on downtown Izium, a city in the Kharkiv region, killed a woman and wounded three other people, emergency services said.<\/p>\n
Attacks in the capital, Kyiv, the southern Odesa and Zaporizhzhia regions, and Sumy in the northeast, also left at least 19 people wounded, including a 9-year-old, according to authorities. Some of the Russian attacks used powerful glide bombs and also targeted gas stations.<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s defenses overnight stopped 174 of 189 Russian drones, the Ukrainian air force said. However, four of seven Iskander-M ballistic missiles that were fired got through air defenses and struck various locations, it said.<\/p>\n
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No Russian military buildup seen on border with Belarus, Ukraine says<\/p>\n
Russia is expanding several of its military sites deep inside Belarus, but there is no buildup of forces near the Ukrainian border, a State Border Guard Service spokesman said Friday.<\/p>\n
Russia launched its 2022 invasion of Ukraine from Belarus, which borders both countries, and Kyiv has kept a close watch on developments there during the war.<\/p>\n
Ukrainian intelligence units have detected no grouping or reinforcement of Russian units, equipment or personnel close to the border, spokesman Andrii Demchenko said in remarks to Ukrainian television.<\/p>\n
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However, Russia has a growing number of training grounds, bases and other sites deeper inside the country, according to intelligence units.<\/p>\n