Russian forces attack Kyiv and Kharkiv overnight: there are casualties and destruction

On the night of January 24, 2026, Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine using missiles and drones. Kyiv and Kharkiv were among the targets. Additionally, the Sumy, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Chernihiv regions were affected. A woman was killed in Ukraine’s capital, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the press service of the State Emergency Service (SES).

According to the head of state, Russian troops used over 370 strike drones and 21 missiles of various types. The main target of the attack in the capital and the region was the energy infrastructure.

In Kyiv, as a result of the nightly attack, one person was killed, and at least four others were injured. Fires broke out in several districts of the capital, and many buildings were damaged.

Aftermath of the Russian attack on Kyiv

In the Holosiivskyi District, the upper floor of a confectionery factory was destroyed. A woman was killed and two people were injured. A private residential house was also damaged.

Aftermath of the Russian attack on Roshen factory in Ukraine’s capital

Member of Parliament from the ‘European Solidarity’ faction, Viktoria Siumar, reported that a woman was killed by a direct strike from a ‘Shahed’ drone at the Roshen factory.

‘She was working in the production shop… The shop also sustained serious damage,’ she wrote on Facebook.

Aftermath of the Russian attack on Kyiv

In the Dniprovskyi District, a fire broke out at a garage cooperative. Elsewhere within the district, a fuel truck caught on fire and leaked fuel — the fire has been extinguished. One person was injured.

In the Darnytskyi District, a fire was reported in an uninhabited high-rise building; it has been extinguished.

In the Solomianskyi District, an office building was damaged by the Russian attack.

Aftermath of the Russian attack on Kyiv

As a result of a massive attack by Russian drones, 27 people were injured, including a 12-year-old boy in Kharkiv, according to the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration. Damage and fire were recorded in various districts of the city.

In the Industrial District, residential high-rises and an business building were on fire. Rescuers evacuated five people, including a child, from a four-story building. Dormitory and medical facility buildings were damaged.

Aftermath of the Russian attack on Kharkiv

Additionally, in the Nemyshlianskyi District, a private residential house caught fire. The President of Ukraine reported that a maternity hospital, a dormitory housing internally displaced persons (IDPs), a medical college, and residential buildings were damaged in Kharkiv. Rescue services continue to mitigate the consequences of the shelling and clarify information regarding the casualties.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha noted that Russia’s main targets remain unchanged: energy facilities and residential areas.

“Cynically, Putin ordered a brutal, massive missile strike against Ukraine right while delegations are meeting in Abu Dhabi to advance the America-led peace process. His missiles hit not only our people, but also the negotiation table,” he stated on X.

According to Sybiha, this attack demonstrates that “Putin’s place is not at the table of peace, but in the dock of the special tribunal.”

According to President Zelenskyy, every such Russian strike on our energy infrastructure proves that there can be no delay in supplying air defence systems. No blind eye can be turned to these strikes; they must be met with a strong response.

“We are counting on the reaction and assistance of all our partners. Every missile for Patriot, NASAMS, and all other systems helps protect critical infrastructure and enables people to endure the winter cold,” he called on Ukraine’s partners and other countries. 

To provide background, as a result of Russian military shelling on the night of January 23, 12 civilians were injured, and one person was killed in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts.

Within 24 hours of taking office, U.S. President Donald Trump has not secured an end to Russia’s war as he promised. Furthermore, numerous Ukrainian and international experts point out that the U.S., as a guarantor state under the Budapest Memorandum, is pressuring Kyiv into capitulation.