Ukrainian air defense forces intercepted nine attack drones overnight on 7-8 April as Russia launched a combined assault using a missile and about 50 explosive unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) against multiple regions, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported on the morning of 8 April, Russian forces attacked Ukraine with an Iskander-M ballistic missile launched from the Kursk region and 46 strike UAVs including Shahed-type drones deployed from Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia, beginning at 19:00 on 7 April.
Mobile fire groups and electronic warfare units of Ukraine’s Defense Forces responded to the air attack, successfully shooting down nine strike drones in the eastern and northern parts of the country. An additional 31 decoy drones were reported as “disappeared from radars” without causing negative consequences.
“Russian attacks affected Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk oblasts,” the Air Force statement said.
The Air Force’s data suggests that at least six drones and the missile might have reached their intended targets.
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
The Russian forces attacked Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with drones and heavy artillery overnight on 8 April, damaging infrastructure, apartment buildings, an industrial enterprise and detached houses, according to regional governor Serhii Lysak on Telegram.
“The enemy attacked Samarivskyi district with UAVs at night. Infrastructure was damaged. A fire broke out – rescuers extinguished it. Six apartment buildings and a store were damaged,” Lysak said.
In the Nikopol area, the Russians struck with drones and heavy artillery, targeting Nikopol, Marhanets and Pokrovsk communities. The attacks damaged administrative buildings, an industrial enterprise, a detached house and a bus. Two detached houses and an outbuilding were damaged in Synelnykivskyi district due to Russian shelling.
“No deaths or injuries were reported anywhere. Units of Eastern Air Command destroyed 8 UAVs over the region,” Lysak concluded.
Kharkiv and Donetsk casualties
Oleh Syniehubov, Head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration, reported the following events from the last 24 hours:
- At 23:18 in the village of Vysokyi, within the Vysochanska community of the Kharkiv district, a ballistic missile Iskander-M struck an inactive recreational base, hitting a four-story building. As a result, three people suffered from acute stress reactions.
- Additionally, Russia targeted the region with KAB guided bombs. In the village of Slatyne, the bombs hit the ground, causing damage to two private homes and a garage. In the Zolochiv Territorial Community, two KAB bombs impacted the outskirts of the village of Udy, while another two hit the outskirts of Baranivka.
- Syniehubov also reported that in the Vovchansk community, an FPV drone strike injured three people in the village of Bilyi Kolodiaz. This morning, at 06:28, an artillery in the village of Tokaryvka Druha destroyed a house, killing one man and injuring two women.
Donetsk Oblast authorities reported two civilian deaths and two injuries from Russian attacks over the past day and night, but did not specifically attribute the casualties to the Russian drone strike last night.
Rare air attack pause the night before
The previous night on 6-7 March was a rare exception without drone or missile attacks. The ISW think tank noted that Ukrainian officials did not report any Russian long-range missile or drone strikes on the night of 6 to 7 April or during the day on 7 April, following Russia’s largest strike package in over a month on the night of 5 to 6 April.
According to ISW, “It remains unclear why the Russian forces did not conduct any long-range strikes, after having done so daily since December 12, 2024.”
Russia used the large-scale missile and drone strike series on 5-6 April to experiment with its strike packages to increase their effectiveness, and may be preparing to conduct another large-scale strike package in the near future, ISW wrote.
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- Russian drones kill two civilians in Kharkiv, injure 35
