Russia attacked Ukraine overnight into 16 May with over 100 explosive drones, in yet another of its daily nighttime UAV barrages. Additionally, it shelled cities and targeted civilians with artillery, munition-dropping drones, and FPV UAVs. The combined assaults over the past day, night, and into the afternoon killed at least four civilians and injured 30 others.
On 16 May, Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 112 drones overnight from directions including Russia’s Bryansk, Kursk, Oryol, Millerovo, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk. The assault included Shahed strike drones and various decoy UAVs.
By 09:00, 73 drones were shot down over Ukraine’s eastern, northern, southern, and central regions. 36 decoy drones were reported as “locationally lost”, causing no harm, according to the Air Force.
The data suggests that at least three explosive drones bearing 50 kg of explosives each might have reached their targets.
Ukraine confirms F-16 crash on 16 May, pilot ejected and survived
The regions affected by this mass drone wave included Odesa, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv oblasts. Defense operations involved aviation, anti-air missile units, mobile fire teams, and electronic warfare, the report says.
Kherson: Russian continues “human safari,” hunting for civilians
Kherson Oblast suffered the most severe human toll, with at least two civilians killed and 10 injured between 15 and 16 May, as Russia continued shelling the settlements in the region and hunting for civilians on the streets using drones.
Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces shelled 26 settlements on the right bank of the Dnipro River, killing one civilian and injuring another, according to the Kherson Oblast Military Administration.
According to the regional prosecutor’s office, one civilian was killed and at least nine others injured on 16 May as of 17:00. According to law enforcement, Russian forces shelled populated areas of Kherson Oblast using artillery, mortars, and various types of UAVs.
Today, a 76-year-old resident of Antonivka sought medical help after being injured in a Russian drone strike the previous day, and was diagnosed with mine-explosive trauma and a concussion, for which doctors provided treatment and prescribed outpatient care.
This morning, a Russian drone dropped an explosive on a street in Beryslav, killing a 50-year-old man and wounding another.
A 33-year-old man with the Kherson City Military Administration suffered mine-explosive trauma and a shoulder contusion while loading humanitarian aid; two other workers, aged 36 and 40, experienced acute stress reactions, the oblast authorities reported.
In central Kherson, a 43-year-old man was hospitalized with explosive, head, and leg shrapnel injuries, while a 61-year-old man underwent surgery after sustaining mine trauma and leg wounds. A 28-year-old man was treated for blast trauma, as were a 46-year-old Kherson man and a 72-year-old resident of Beryslav, the latter also suffering a forearm injury and concussion.
Additionally, a 34-year-old man from Bilozerka in Kherson Oblast sought medical treatment for injuries sustained in a Russian attack on 14 May; he was diagnosed with mine-explosive and cranial trauma, a concussion, and a chest contusion, received necessary care, and will continue treatment on an outpatient basis.
Odesa: drone strikes injure three civilians, destroy zoo director’s home
Odesa Oblast came under attack in the early hours of 16 May, when Russian drones hit residential areas in the Odesa and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi districts. Three civilians were injured while in their homes, according to the regional prosecutor’s office and the oblast’s head. A woman is in critical condition, one man sustained moderate injuries, and a third victim is being treated on an outpatient basis. The injuries include shrapnel wounds, fractures, and thermal burns.
Emergency responders extinguished fires caused by the strikes, which also destroyed detached homes, garages, a utility structure, and three vehicles. A drone strike in Ovidiopol obliterated the home of Odesa Zoo director Ihor Bilyakov, according to Suspilne. He was uninjured but lost all possessions inside, including his phone.
Kharkiv: four men and elderly woman wounded, city worker killed
On 15 May at around 21:30, a Russian airstrike hit the village of Malyy Burluk in Kharkiv Oblast. An 88-year-old woman was wounded by the blast and multiple homes were damaged, according to the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration.
The following morning, an FPV drone strike in Kupiansk killed a 55-year-old female municipal worker. Four of her male coworkers, aged between 40 and 58, were injured. The attack also damaged a city service vehicle, according to the authorities.
Donetsk: 13 casualties in two days
Donetsk Oblast authorities reported that over the past 24 hours, Russian shelling killed one civilian in Oleksandro-Kalynove and injured six others across the region.
On 16 May, five civilians between the ages of 50 and 66 were wounded in a 05:00 attack on Pokrovsk, which also damaged three homes. Another civilian was injured in Andriivka after a Russian FPV drone struck a private vehicle, the oblast administration said.
Kyiv city and Kyiv Oblast: drone debris damage, no casualties
The Kyiv City Military Administration reported that 17 Russian strike drones were detected overnight on 16 May. Five locations in the Sviatoshynskyi district were hit by drone debris, damaging residential buildings, a non-residential facility, a road, and the grounds of a heating plant. No injuries were reported.
According to the Kyiv Oblast Military Administration, debris also damaged structures in Bila Tserkva and Bucha districts: an administrative building, a store, a defunct cultural center, and a non-operational school. No casualties reported.
Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk Oblasts: drones intercepted, damage without casualties
- Cherkasy Oblast: 32 drones were destroyed on 16 May. No injuries or damage were reported.
- Kirovohrad Oblast: one Shahed drone was downed overnight near Kropyvnytskyi, no consequences recorded.
- Zaporizhzhia Oblast: Russian drones hit Bilenske, damaging homes and a farm structure, but no injuries.
- Dnipropetrovsk Oblast: on 15–16 May, Nikopol and Marhanets hromada were hit with FPV drones and Grad MLRS, damaging two homes, a church, a kindergarten, a school, and businesses. No casualties reported.
