Russian drone strike kills one, injures four in Kyiv Oblast as Ukraine neutralizes 86/93 UAVs

Russian forces launched 93 Shahed-type strike drones and various decoy unmanned aerial vehicles against Ukraine overnight on 3 January 2025, the Ukrainian Air Force reported. The attack killed at least one civilian and injured four more.

Russia continues its deliberate daily air attacks on residential areas and civilian infrastructure. Since October 2022, it has systematically targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with extensive missile and drone assaults, aiming to disrupt civilian life, particularly during the winter months.

The air attack, which began at 21:00 on 2 January, originated from Russia’s areas of Bryansk, Millerovo, and Orel. Ukrainian Defense Forces, including aviation, air defense missile units, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups of the Air Force and Defense Forces engaged the threats.

By 09:00, officials confirmed the destruction of 60 Shahed-type strike drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles over Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Donetsk, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. Due to active countermeasures, 26 enemy decoy drones disappeared from radar without negative consequences, with one remaining airborne, the Air Force said.

“As a result of the Russian drone attack, several strike UAVs hit private businesses and apartment buildings in Donetsk and Chernihiv oblasts. The downed drones also caused damage in Kyiv Oblast: detached houses and cars were damaged in several districts. Unfortunately, there is a dead man and injured,” the Air Force reported.

In Kyiv Oblast, Mykola Kalashnyk, acting head of the Kyiv Oblast Military Administration, reported one death and four injuries. A truck driver died at the scene from drone debris injuries. In another district, debris struck a detached house, igniting the roof and injuring three people – a woman born in 1957 who experienced acute stress reaction, a 16-year-old boy who suffered a cut and was hospitalized, and his father who sustained leg lacerations.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported damage to four detached houses and an outbuilding in Bila Tserkva district. In Brovary district, debris damaged a cargo vehicle, killing the 24-year-old driver. In Fastiv district, a 23-year-old woman was injured by falling debris and received medical treatment at the district hospital.

Airspace monitoring channels reported drone activities in the areas of local power stations, which suggest that Russia once again tried to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

In Kyiv city, Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported air defense activity beginning at 04:00 and lasting over three hours. Debris fell in the Holosiivskyi and Darnytskyi districts, with the latter experiencing a fire in a detached house. City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko confirmed one young woman suffered a hand burn but declined hospitalization.

Radio Svoboda reported that in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, a drone struck a residential building, causing a fire, with no casualties reported in preliminary information:

Related: