Russians launch largest drone attack on Ukraine since the full-scale invasion, striking 13 regions with 267 UAVs
Russia launched 267 drones across at least 13 regions on February 23, 2025, with an unspecified number of casualties reported. Ukrainian officials called it “a record number for one attack”.
It is the most drones launched in a single attack since the Russian invasion began on February 24, 2022, says Yuriy Ignat, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Air Force Command.
Ukrainian air defence units destroyed 138 of the 267 Russian drones. Meanwhile, 119 drones disappeared from the radar; three flew towards Russia, and one headed towards Belarus.
Aftermath of Russian attack on KhersonRussian forces are reported to have launched the drones from areas of the Russian cities of Oryol, Bryansk, Kursk, Shatalovo, Millerovo, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, and Chauda in occupied Crimea.
The Russians also launched three Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles from temporarily occupied Crimea.
The Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration reported that Russian forces hit a civilian car on the outskirts of the city of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv Oblast on February 22, leaving two people injured. Ukrainian officials added that a 63-year-old man had sustained broken ribs, chest injuries and a burn to his face, while the injuries of a 58-year-old woman had not been specified.
On February 22, 2025, at 15:35, the Russian military conducted three airstrikes on the city of Kostiantynivka, the Donetsk region, likely employing FAB-250 bombs equipped with UMPK modules. According to the Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor’s Office, the attacks targeted a residential area, resulting in the death of a 69-year-old woman and injuries to two other women and a man, who suffered mine-blast traumas, contusions, shrapnel wounds, and concussions. The assault also caused damage to seven apartment buildings, a gas pipeline, 12 garages, and a shop.
On February 22, the Russian army personnel attacked a civilian car in Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast, using an FPV drone. According to Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration, the attack resulted in the death of a 53-year-old man and injuries to a 56-year-old man, who was hospitalized. Two other passengers did not require medical attention. Additionally, Sloviansk came under fire, leading to damage to non-residential buildings.
Previously, Filashkin reported that the Russian forces dropped three guided aerial bombs on the town of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk Oblast on the morning of February 21, leaving a man dead and two people injured. A 40-year-old man was killed, and two people suffered mild injuries.
The Donetsk Oblast Military Administration also reported that the strike damaged nine houses and three non-residential buildings.
On February 20, the State Emergency Service reported that Russian troops had attacked the residential area of the town of Mykolaivka, Kramatorsk district, Donetsk Oblast, killing a man. This strike damaged 21 houses.
ZMINA consistently reports on the ongoing international crimes in the Donetsk Oblast.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that Russians have launched nearly 1,150 kamikaze drones, over 1,400 guided aerial bombs and 35 missiles of various types on Ukrainian cities, towns, and settlements during the week of 17-23 February.
By way of background, the Russian Federation uses temporarily occupied Crimea as a military foothold for its armed aggression from the south of Ukraine, shelling Ukrainian cities from the peninsula. Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly stated the importance of de-occupying the Crimean Peninsula.
Earlier, Zelenskyy stated that other countries’ failure to comply with sanctions against Russia should be treated as participation in the war against Ukraine.
Earlier, Bohdan Bernatskyy, a member of the Sanctions Policy Working Group of the Crimean Platform Expert Network, revealed at the Third Parliamentary Summit in Latvia that over 1,300 Russian military companies and 2 million industry workers continue operating, many without international restrictions.
