Russian forces launched a massive drone attack against Ukraine overnight on 2 February 2025, with Ukrainian air defenses intercepting 40 out of 55 unmanned aerial vehicles, Ukraine’s Air Force reports. Additionally, 13 decoy drones disappeared from radars without negative consequences. The drones caused damage in two regions, with no casualtes reported.
According to the report, the attack, which began at 21:00 on 1 February, involved Shahed-type one-way attack drones and various decoy UAVs launched from Kursk, Oryol, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia. Ukrainian air force, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups participated in repelling the attack.
The Air Force’s data suggest that at least two Russian drones might have reached their targets.
According to the Air Force, 40 attack drones were shot down over Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Odesa oblasts.
In Kharkiv, Suspilne reported an explosion at 23:55. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a Russian drone struck the Slobidskyi district around midnight.
Kharkiv
Suspilne says the attack caused a large fire covering approximately 2,000 square meters at a warehouse facility in central Kharkiv. According to regional rescue service spokesman Yevhen Vasylenko, the strike hit a production and storage building containing textile products and polyester materials. The blaze was reportedly brought under control within an hour and a half. No injuries were reported.
Regional prosecutor’s office spokesman Dmytro Chubenko told Suspilne this was the third Shahed drone strike on civilian warehouses and residential buildings in the city this week.
Sumy
At 23:58, almost simultaneously with the Kharkiv explosion, Suspilne reported a blast in Sumy city.
Later, Sumy Regional State Administration head Mykhailo Melnyk said that in Sumy Oblast, a Russian Shahed drone damaged a two-story apartment building in the village of Sad around midnight. While no deaths were reported, information about potential injuries was being clarified.
Additionally, firefighters extinguished a fire at an infrastructure facility in Sumy district following a Russian strike. The State Emergency Service of Sumy Oblast reported no casualties, though it remained unclear whether the attack involved drones or missiles.
Related:
- Death toll from Russia’s Poltava missile strike rose to 14, including two children
- ISW: Ukrainians advance in Kharkiv Oblast and near Donetsk’s Pokrovsk, Russians in few Donetsk directions
- Air defenses intercept 50 out of 72 Russian drones across Ukraine
- Ukrainian air defenses down over 500 Russian drones over week
- Russian double-tap air attack on Zaporizhzhia kills man, injures 46 including two-month-old boy
