Burc Eruygur
28 March 2026•Update: 28 March 2026
- Odesa governor says 2 killed, 12 injured in southern Ukrainian region; over 60 drones used in attack
ISTANBUL
Russia and Ukraine on Saturday accused each other of committing overnight drone strikes that killed five people and injured more than a dozen others.
In Russia, Yaroslavl Governor Mikhail Yevrayev said an overnight Ukrainian drone attack damaged several residential buildings and a commercial facility, adding that more than 30 drones were shot down.
A minor was killed when a drone struck his home, he said. The minor’s parents were critically injured and hospitalized, while a neighbor was also injured.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said a total of 155 Ukrainian drones were downed overnight across 16 regions, including Yaroslavl, as well as over the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.
In Ukraine, Oleh Kiper, the Russian-appointed governor of the southern Odesa region, said “massive strikes” targeted civilian and critical infrastructure in the regional capital.
Two people were killed and 12 injured, including a 9-year-old boy, Kiper said, adding that the roof of a four-story maternity hospital was among the buildings hit.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the US social media platform X that more than 60 drones were used in the attack on Odesa.
Overnight strikes also hit the Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk regions, where local authorities reported one death in each region.
Ukraine’s Air Force said its air defenses shot down most of the drones launched by Russia overnight, intercepting 252 out of 273.
Separately, the Ukrainian General Staff claimed its forces hit the Yaroslavl oil refinery -- one of the largest in Russia -- in an overnight attack.
“A hit was recorded on the territory of the plant, followed by a fire,” said a statement, adding that Yaroslavl refinery’s processing capacity is about 15 million tons of oil per year.
