Municipal workers remove debris in front of a building damaged during overnight Russian drone strikes, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine on May 18, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Russia launched hundreds of drones and nearly two dozen missiles at Ukraine overnight wounding more than 30 people, Ukrainian officials said on Monday (May 18 , 2026), as Kyiv and Moscow step up deadly long-range attacks.
Moscow has been Ukrainian cities since it invaded more than four years ago but the latest Russian attack comes after both sides traded some of their bloodiest strikes in months.
Russia targeted the industrial city of Dnipro south of the capital, and the mayor published images on social media showing windows blown out of residential buildings.
“Twenty-six people were wounded. The enemy attacked six districts of the region with missiles, drones, artillery and aerial bombs,” Oleksandr Ganzha, the head of the region, said.
Ukraine’s air force said it downed most of the 546 drones launched by Russian forces, but just four out of 22 missiles.
Ukraine has developed a sophisticated system for downing Russian drones but has been struggling to intercept Russian missiles.
Russian strikes also wounded five people in the southern cities of Odesa, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
Published – May 18, 2026 01:49 pm IST

