Zelensky: Russia launched over 2,200 strike drones, 1,650 bombs and 38 missiles at Ukraine this week
President Volodymyr Zelensky reported on September 27 that Russia fired more than 2,200 strike drones, around 1,650 aerial bombs and 38 missiles — many of them ballistic — at Ukraine over the past week. Strikes overnight and during the day hit residential buildings, energy infrastructure and civilian sites across at least eight oblasts, killing civilians in Zaporizhzhia Oblast and Kyiv. In Kyiv, Russian forces struck a data center twice in the morning, injuring three people including two children.
Key points
- This week Russia launched more than 2,200 strike drones, around 1,650 aerial bombs and 38 missiles at Ukraine, a significant share of them ballistic, according to President Zelensky.
- Overnight Russian strikes hit residential buildings, energy infrastructure and other civilian sites in Odesa, Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Poltava, Zhytomyr and Kyiv oblasts.
- Three people were killed in Zaporizhzhia Oblast by Russian shelling during the night; a man was killed in Kyiv by a drone strike.
- Russian forces struck a data center in Kyiv twice in the morning; the first strike injured three people, including two children.
- In Kyiv's Solomiansky district a 56-year-old warehouse guard was killed and an educational facility damaged; drones also hit two kindergartens, two schools, a residential building and warehouses during the day.
- Zelensky said Russia used 277 strike drones of various types, 155 of them jet-powered, from the previous day alone.
- Zelensky argued Russia has no military objective in the strikes and that they contradict Russian claims of de-escalation to American negotiators.
- Ukraine is working with the U.S. and partners on the Lindsay Graham sanctions bill, which Zelensky said is at the application stage, with new sanctions packages on Russian financial chains and weapons-component supplies expected in October.
Why it matters
The figures Zelensky cited indicate an exceptional tempo of Russian long-range strikes against Ukraine in a single week. Overnight and morning attacks damaged energy, residential, educational and diplomatic infrastructure in at least eight oblasts, including the residence of the Saudi Arabian ambassador in Kyiv, and produced civilian casualties including children. Zelensky used the toll to argue that Russian attacks contradict any claim of de-escalation toward American negotiators and to press partners on the Lindsay Graham sanctions bill and new October sanctions packages.
What happened
On September 27, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported Russia's weekly strike totals: more than 2,200 strike drones, around 1,650 aerial bombs and 38 missiles — a significant share of them ballistic. Overnight shelling killed three people in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and a drone strike killed a man in Kyiv. Russian forces struck a data center in Kyiv twice in the morning; the first strike injured three people, including two children. Strikes hit residential buildings, energy infrastructure and other civilian sites in Odesa, Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Poltava, Zhytomyr and Kyiv oblasts. In Kyiv's Solomiansky district a 56-year-old warehouse guard was killed and an educational facility damaged; drones also hit two kindergartens, two schools, a residential building and warehouses during the day. Zelensky said 277 strike drones of various types — 155 of them jet-powered — were used against Ukraine from the previous day alone. Ukrainian reporting also noted damage to the residence of the Saudi Arabian ambassador in Kyiv, the main office building of Kyivstar, a sports school in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and the building of the regional children's home in Sumy Oblast. Zelensky framed the attacks as contradicting Russian claims of de-escalation and said Ukraine is working with the U.S. and other partners on the Lindsay Graham sanctions bill, with new sanctions packages on Russian financial chains and weapons-component supplies expected in October.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian sources center the scale of Russian long-range strikes and the damage to civilian objects — schools, kindergartens, the Saudi ambassador's residence in Kyiv and a children's home in Sumy Oblast — and emphasize Zelensky's framing that the attacks contradict Russian talk of de-escalation to American negotiators. Coverage highlights specific casualty details, including the killing of a 56-year-old warehouse guard in Kyiv's Solomiansky district, injuries to two 16-year-old girls in the Shevchenkivsky district and the harm to children at the Kyiv data center. Zelensky's appeals to the Global South — and his call for partners to apply the Lindsay Graham bill and prepare new October sanctions packages — are also foregrounded.
Background
The weekly strike totals were reported by Zelensky in a morning address on September 27. Russia's intensified use of Shahed-type loitering munitions has been a recurring feature of strikes throughout 2024 and 2025. Zelensky has repeatedly urged partners in the Global South — including China, India, Brazil and South Africa — to take a stronger, more consistent stance against Russia's actions.