Russian Strikes Devastate Ukraine in Deadliest Assault of 2024

Russia carried out its deadliest attack on Ukraine this year on Thursday , killing at least 17 people and injuring more than 100 across multiple regions, according to Ukrainian authorities. Ukraine’s air force said the assault combined nearly 700 drones with dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles, making it one of the largest single waves described in official statements.

Officials reported fatalities in several areas: nine people were killed in Odesa, four in Kyiv, three in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and one in Zaporizhzhia oblast. The injuries were reported nationwide, with the overall toll exceeding 100, as authorities assessed damage and casualties following the strikes.

The attacks came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy drew attention to a shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles. Zelenskyy said the situation around missile availability “could not be any worse,” linking the pressure on air defenses to the scale of incoming drones and missiles described by Ukraine’s air force.

Zelenskyy’s comments followed recent travel to Germany, Norway, and Italy, where he sought additional support to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses. He also renewed calls for continued international economic and military backing, arguing that the strikes on civilian infrastructure should be treated as war crimes.

Officials said Russia has repeatedly hit civilian infrastructure since its full-scale invasion in 2022. Thursday’s strikes were presented by Ukrainian officials as part of that pattern, with the reported casualties spread across major cities and regions.

At the same time, Russia reported casualties from Ukrainian strikes on its territory. Russian officials said Ukrainian attacks on the Black Sea port of Tuapse killed a 14-year-old girl and a woman, and damaged residential buildings.

Ukraine’s military confirmed it struck infrastructure in Tuapse and said it also hit two oil depots in Russian-occupied Crimea. Ukrainian officials described those targets as facilities used to finance the conflict, framing the strikes as aimed at supporting Russia’s war effort rather than civilian sites.

Some details remain uncertain, including the full extent of damage across all affected areas and whether casualty figures will be revised as rescue and assessment work continues. Both sides issued claims about strikes and impacts as the wider war, ongoing since 2022, continued to generate cross-border attacks and competing accounts.