Russian strikes kill nine across Ukraine as both sides target industry

Russian air strikes across Ukraine killed nine people and injured dozens on September 12, according to Ukrainian authorities, as drones and missiles hit residential areas, industrial facilities and Black Sea ports.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched nearly 500 drones since early Saturday. The attacks affected several regions, including Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa, while Ukrainian forces reported their own long-range strikes against industrial targets inside Russia.

In Kramatorsk, the city council said three people were killed in separate attacks on civilian vehicles over a period of approximately 90 minutes. Four others were injured. The council said the vehicles were not military targets.

Two people were killed when a strike hit a grocery store in Zvyahel, west of Kyiv, Zhytomyr regional governor Vitaliy Bunechko said. Two petrol stations and an enterprise involving foreign investment were also attacked in the region.

Authorities reported two deaths and 11 injuries in Zaporizhzhia and two additional deaths in Kryvyi Rih following overnight missile and drone strikes. Reuters said it could not independently verify all battlefield and damage reports issued by either side.

Odesa region reported 37 injured people, including an infant, after a series of overnight attacks. Two people were listed as missing. The Associated Press reported extensive damage to residential buildings and energy infrastructure during the wider wave.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces struck the Zaporizhstal steel plant in Zaporizhzhia, the Interpipe Steel complex in Dnipro and several industrial sites in Kryvyi Rih. Ukrainian officials reported damage in the affected cities but did not confirm every target named by Moscow.

The Russian military also said it continued attacks on Ukrainian ports. Moscow claimed that a cargo vessel in Odesa carrying goods for military use was hit and that two cargo ships were struck overnight in Chornomorsk. Ukraine did not immediately confirm the Russian description of the ships or their cargoes.

Ukraine, meanwhile, said its forces attacked the Togliattikauchuk synthetic-rubber plant in Russia’s Samara region and caused a fire. The Ukrainian military said the facility produces synthetic rubber and fuel additives used in Russian missile production.

Samara governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev confirmed that industrial facilities in the region had been attacked by Ukrainian drones but did not identify the sites or describe the extent of damage. Togliatti mayor Ilya Sukhikh said several residential buildings were damaged and one person was injured.

In a separate Ukrainian drone attack, four commercial properties caught fire in Taganrog in Russia’s Rostov region, according to local mayor Svetlana Kambulova. Russian regional authorities did not report deaths in that incident.

The attacks followed a rise in civilian casualties and damage to power, transport and industrial infrastructure during the preceding two months. Ukrainian authorities have also expanded strikes on Russian energy facilities, warehouses and factories supporting military production.