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Russian drone strike hits apartment building in Ivano-Frankivsk, injuring at least one

On the morning of 13 September, Russian drones struck Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine, damaging a residential high-rise and a non-residential building and injuring at least one person. Air defenses were active during the attack, and the city's railway station and public transport were suspended while the air-raid alert remained in effect.

Key points

  • On the morning of 13 September, Russian drones attacked Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine.
  • Air defenses operated in the city during the strike, and several series of explosions were heard.
  • At least one person was injured; mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv said the person was hospitalized.
  • A multi-story apartment building on Depovska Street, 81 was hit, with at least 15 windows blown out and the facade damaged.
  • Rescuers extinguished a fire in a one-story non-residential building caused by the attack.
  • The city's railway station and public transport were suspended while the air-raid alert was in effect.
  • The same drone wave reportedly sparked a fire at an enterprise in Khmelnytskyi Oblast and damaged a fuel station near the Yahodyn border crossing with Poland, where several trucks caught fire.

Why it matters

The strike hit a far-western Ukrainian city that has rarely been targeted, and the mayor warned residents that further attacks on the region are possible. Damage to a residential apartment building, citywide air-raid alerts, and the suspension of the railway station and public transport show the attack's wider effect on daily life. The same drone wave caused damage in Khmelnytskyi Oblast and near the Yahodyn border crossing with Poland, indicating a broader attack affecting multiple western regions.

What happened

Russian forces attacked Ivano-Frankivsk with drones on the morning of 13 September. Air defenses operated in the city and several series of explosions were heard. A multi-story residential building on Depovska Street, 81 was struck, with at least 15 windows blown out and the facade damaged; rescue services extinguished a fire in a one-story non-residential building also hit in the attack. At least one person was injured and hospitalized, and mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv said Russia was targeting civilian infrastructure. The city's railway station and public transport did not operate while the air-raid alert was in effect. OVA head Svitlana Onyshchuk warned of the continuing drone threat and said the danger for the region had not yet passed. The Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also reported drones moving through Lviv and Ternopil oblasts.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

All reporting comes from Ukrainian outlets. Coverage is centered on local officials — mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv and OVA head Svitlana Onyshchuk — and emphasizes the human toll, including eyewitness accounts from the damaged apartment building and the case of a Kramatorsk resident hospitalized with shrapnel fragments. Ukrainian sources frame Russia explicitly as the attacker and stress that civilian infrastructure was hit, and several outlets flag that western Ukraine may face further strikes.

Where reporting differs

Ukrainian sources disagree on which districts were under active air-raid alert: some report warnings in the Ivano-Frankivsk, Kolomyia, and Kalush districts, while others report warnings only in Ivano-Frankivsk and Kalush. Sources also differ on the year of the attack — most place it on 13 September 2025, while one dates it 13 September 2026.

Background

Ivano-Frankivsk lies in the western Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (Прикарпаття), far from the front line but increasingly within range of Russian long-range drones. Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv said he had information that Russia may intensify strikes on western Ukraine and urged residents to use shelters, noting that school shelters open at night and on weekends. Falling drone debris sparked a fire at an enterprise in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, and in Volyn a Russian attack damaged a fuel station near the Yahodyn border crossing with Poland, where several trucks caught fire, showing the same drone wave reached several western regions.