The key facts

  • Two people were killed in Smolensk region; drone debris caused a fire in an apartment building in Yartsevo, 10 people rescued from the fire zone
  • About 150 drones were shot down overnight over Leningrad region — the largest attack since the beginning of 2026; fire at the Ust-Luga port, three workers injured
  • The Russian Defense Ministry claimed strikes on energy facilities in Kryvyi Rih and Odesa region and on a vessel carrying military cargo; Ukraine reported casualties in Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions

Deaths and fire in Yartsevo

The governor of Smolensk region, Vasily Anokhin, said that overnight the region came under a massive drone attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces; according to him, air defenses destroyed 37 drones and two people were killed. Drone debris hit an apartment building in Yartsevo and caused a fire. Emergency Ministry (EMERCOM) staff evacuated residents; 10 people were rescued from the fire zone. A temporary accommodation point has been set up for residents of the building; the question of returning to the apartments will be decided after the building is inspected.

Record number of drones shot down over Leningrad region

The governor of Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, said that preliminarily 150 drones were shot down overnight over the region. According to TASS calculations based on his data, this is the largest attack on the region since the beginning of 2026: the previous maximum was recorded on October 18, when 145 drones were shot down, then 144 on June 6 and 113 on November 9. Due to the attack, a fire broke out in the area of the Ust-Luga port; three workers were injured, and their lives are not in danger.

Mutual strikes and talks

The Russian Defense Ministry said it continued strikes on the energy infrastructure supplying Ukraine's defense industry enterprises and on vessels carrying military cargo: overnight, according to its data, a 330 kV substation in Kryvyi Rih was hit, two substations (110 and 330 kV) in the villages of Mayaky and Usatove in Odesa region, as well as a cargo ship carrying weapons in the Black Sea southwest of Odesa. Ukrainian authorities confirmed strikes on a number of regions: the State Emergency Service reported six people injured in Zaporizhzhia district and one wounded in Kharkiv. The sides' claims cannot be independently verified. Against this backdrop, a new round of peace talks mediated by the US began in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday; earlier this year the sides had already held three such rounds — on January 23–24 and February 4–5 in Abu Dhabi, and on February 17–18 in Geneva.