Russia attacked Ukraine overnight on 5 May with 11 Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 164 drones, the Air Force reported. Air defenses downed one ballistic missile and 149 drones; eight ballistic missiles and 14 attack drones struck 14 locations, with debris falling on 10 more. Two ballistic missiles failed to reach their targets, according to the Air Force.
Poltava Oblast bore the heaviest losses. By 10:23, regional governor Vitaliy Diakivnych reported five killed and 37 injured — among them three employees of the Naftogaz Group and two State Emergency Service (SES) officers killed in a follow-on strike on the rescue operation. A damaged industrial enterprise, hit railway infrastructure, and 3,480 customers cut off from gas service were also reported. Mourning was declared in the oblast for 5 and 6 May.
The Russian army has been striking frontline oblasts almost daily with artillery, drones, or missiles. These attacks hammer civilian areas in a grinding campaign of attrition that has claimed countless lives since the invasion began.
Russia struck a gas extraction site, then hit the rescuers
The overnight attack hit a gas extraction facility, and a Russian missile then struck SES units carrying out fire suppression at the scene, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko reported on Telegram.
Among the dead is Viktor Kuzmenko, deputy head of the SES operational coordination center for Poltava Oblast and a Hero of Ukraine. According to Klymenko, Kuzmenko led the operation in which 17 people were rescued after the 2024 strike on Poltava and "took part in over 50 operations to liquidate the consequences of shelling."
The second SES officer killed was firefighter-rescuer Dmytro Skryl, who served in the agency for more than 20 years and had repeatedly worked on fires at oil and gas industry sites caused by Russian strikes, Klymenko said. Two civilians also died in the repeat strike. Eight people were wounded, and 23 rescuers sustained injuries; three are in serious condition.
Naftogaz Group head Serhiy Koretsky confirmed that three of the company's workers were among the dead. According to Koretsky, "Russia attacked gas extraction enterprises in Poltava and Kharkiv oblasts — there is significant destruction and production losses."
Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts also hit overnight
In Kyiv Oblast, the residential sector of Brovary district was struck and a fire broke out at an industrial site in Vyshhorod district, the DSNS reported. Three people were injured.
In Kharkiv, a Russian drone struck the Kholodnohirsky district in the morning. Regional administration head Oleh Synehubov said "one person was injured as a result of enemy shelling in the Kholodnohirsky district." The injured woman, 55, suffered an acute stress reaction and received medical care, Synehubov added. The Osnovianskyi district was also struck by a drone, with information on casualties still being established.
In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Russian forces conducted more than 20 drone attacks alongside artillery, missile, and aerial-bomb strikes across five districts, regional administration head Oleksandr Hanzha reported. A 62-year-old man in Dnipro was hospitalized in serious condition. Damage was recorded to a lyceum, a fuel station, an agricultural enterprise, private homes, and a temple in Sloviansk hromada in Synelnykivsky district. One person was wounded in Nikopol district.
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