According to the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshuk, Russian troops launched an attack on Ukraine overnight, using a range of different missiles, including ballistic missiles and kamikaze drones.
The overnight Russian attack targeted a hotel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk and injured two journalists. Authorities reported that a third journalist was missing in the rubble.
Join us via Telegram
Follow our coverage of the war on @Kyivpost_official.
Early on Sunday morning, August 25, Russia attacked the frontline areas of Ukraine with various types of missiles. According to Oleschuk, the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Donetsk regions were hit.
Russian troops used land-based missiles fired from the Voronezh and Rostov regions, including Iskander-K cruise missiles and Iskander-M ballistic missiles. They also fired six Kh-59/Kh-69 guided missiles from Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions.
“Thanks to the active efforts of the Ukrainian defense forces, most of the missiles did not reach their targets,” Oleschuk said.
Russia also deployed nine Shahed kamikaze drones from Cape Chauda in temporarily occupied Crimea. Eight of these drones were shot down by mobile fire units in the Mykolaiv region.
According to Vitaly Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration (OVA), the impact of drone fragments damaged civilian buildings and caused a fire, but no casualties were reported.
“Falling debris damaged about 15 residential and commercial buildings in Mykolaiv district,” Kim added.
Other interesting topics
From sublime to ridiculous – Russia’s T-80 “Super Turtle Tank”
To counter the threat posed by FPV drones on the Ukrainian battlefield, Russian tanks began to be equipped with cages and later with all-round covering boxes, which eventually led to the “turtle tank”.
The Prosecutor General’s Office reported via Telegram that Russian forces likely attacked Kramatorsk with an Iskander-M missile at 22:35 on August 24. Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk OVA, wrote in a Telegram statement that the Russian attack on Kramatorsk specifically targeted a hotel.
Kramatorsk, the last major city in Donbass still under Ukrainian control, is located about 20 kilometers from the front. Before the Russian invasion in February 2022, the city had around 150,000 inhabitants, but has since been the target of numerous attacks.
At 8:00 a.m., authorities reported two injured people and one person was still trapped under the rubble. All three victims were journalists from Ukraine, the USA and Great Britain.
“Two journalists from a foreign media outlet, aged 38 and 40, were injured in a local hotel that was destroyed in the attack,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement.
The journalists were found to have suffered injuries from mine explosions, brain contusions, broken legs and numerous bruises and cuts. They were given emergency medical treatment on site.
An investigation has been initiated within the framework of a criminal case for violation of the laws and customs of war (Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
In addition to the hotel, a nearby high-rise building was also damaged. Authorities, police and rescue teams are currently on site, clearing away rubble and carrying out rescue operations.
Meanwhile, Kharkiv also suffered two hits as a result of the Russian attack that night.
“Unfortunately, Kharkiv is under fire again. There have been two attacks,” said Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov.
He reported that more than ten private houses were damaged and two were destroyed in the Slobidsky district.
Terekhov said six people in the area had sustained injuries of varying severity.
The second lightning strike struck a gas line and caused a fire that the fire department has now brought under control.
All emergency services are currently on site, the mayor added.
According to the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, shelling was recorded in the Slobidsky and Industrial districts.
Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Dmytro Chubenko said one person was injured in Slobidsky district, while five others suffered acute stress reactions.
In Chuhuiv, a commercial building was attacked by Russian forces, causing a fire to break out in an adjacent building. Five people were injured, including two children.
Chubenko added that Russian troops likely used air-launched Kh-59 missiles in these attacks.
