Russian forces launched a combined missile and drone attack on multiple Ukrainian cities overnight on 26 February, striking Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, and Kryvyi Rih. At least 24 people were injured across the country, including a 7-year-old boy in Kharkiv and an 8-year-old child in Zaporizhzhia.
he strikes damaged residential buildings, knocked out heating in over 500 homes, and sparked fires across several districts.
In Kharkiv, at least six explosions were heard during the night. The Russian military hit the city with two ballistic missiles and 17 Shahed-type drones, targeting four districts: Shevchenkivskyi, Kyivskyi, Saltivskyi, and Slobidskyi, Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration head Oleh Syniehubov reported.
Fourteen people were wounded in Kharkiv and the settlement of Rai-Olenivka, including a 7-year-old boy, Syniehubov said in a 5:46 AM update.
"As a result of two ballistic missile strikes and a group of Shahed-type UAVs hitting the Kyivskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts, apartment buildings, the private sector, overhead contact wires, and a gas pipeline were damaged," Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported.
Terekhov confirmed a strike on a residential high-rise in Shevchenkivskyi district. In Slobidskyi district, a private house was completely destroyed and one person was wounded; the mayor said people could still be trapped under the rubble. In Saltivskyi district, another private home was destroyed, with fire and debris at the scene. One of the strikes hit the city's Central Park, Terekhov added.
Overnight fires broke out at two private homes in Saltivskyi district and engulfed a car and garage in Slobidskyi district, the Kharkiv regional branch of the State Emergency Service reported.
In Zaporizhzhia, Russian forces struck the city with three missiles (type being verified) and 17 drones, preliminarily of the Shahed/Geran-2 type. An additional roughly 15 attack-type UAVs were shot down by air defense, the regional National Police reported.
Ten people were wounded in Zaporizhzhia, including an 8-year-old child, according to Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration head Ivan Fedorov.
"Nineteen apartment buildings, four private homes, and non-residential structures were damaged as a result of the overnight enemy attack on Zaporizhzhia. Heating is out in more than 500 buildings in three districts of the city," Fedorov wrote on Telegram, as reported by Ukrinform.
On the morning of February 26, Russian forces struck near an educational facility in Zaporizhzhia, Fedorov reported. Forty-one children were sheltering inside at the time; none were wounded.
The State Environmental Inspectorate confirmed land contamination in three Zaporizhzhia districts after the attack: over 100 square meters in Voznesenskyi district, over 400 square meters in Shevchenkivskyi district, and across three separate plots in Oleksandrivskyi district totaling over 1,700 square meters.
The Zaporizhzhia regional prosecutor's office opened an investigation into war crimes under Part 1, Article 438 of Ukraine's Criminal Code.
In Kyiv, a nine-story residential building in Darnytszkyi district was damaged during the overnight attack. "In Darnytszkyi district, the Russians damaged a 9-story residential building. Fortunately, there were no casualties," Kyiv Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko reported on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.
Fires erupted in at least two Kyiv districts. In Holosiivskyi district, garages caught fire following debris impacts and the blaze was contained, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. In Pecherskyi district, a two-story private house caught fire; the blaze was extinguished. In Dniprovskyi district, a store building was damaged, Tkachenko said.
In Kryvyi Rih, at least two people were wounded in the overnight strikes, including an 82-year-old woman.
