At least 11 people were killed and 96 injured across Ukraine in overnight Russian attacks between 11 and 12 September.
The Odesa region was hit hardest, but strikes also targeted, among others, the Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Kherson regions.
According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia used 129 drones of various types, as well as Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles, eight Kalibr cruise missiles and six guided Kh-59/69 missiles. Around half of the drones deployed were fitted with jet engines.
Ukraine’s air defences destroyed or disrupted 110 aerial targets, including six Kalibr missiles, two Kh-59/69 missiles, one S-8000 Banderol cruise missile launched from a drone and 101 unmanned aerial vehicles.
Attack on Odesa
One of the main targets of the overnight attack was Odesa. At around 5.30 a.m., Ukraine’s Air Force warned that Russian cruise missiles were heading towards the city from over the Black Sea.
A multi-storey residential building was damaged in the strike. “The enemy attacked the city. A multi-storey residential building has been damaged,” said Odesa region governor Oleh Kiper.
The number of wounded in the Odesa region rose as more information came in about the aftermath of the attack. In the end, at least 35 people were injured, including a five-month-old baby and a 17-year-old. Some of the victims required hospitalisation.
Russian attacks in the Dnipropetrovsk region
Russian forces also attacked the Dnipropetrovsk region. In Dnipro, drones, artillery and air-dropped bombs damaged an industrial facility, residential buildings, garages and vehicles. One person was killed and 19 were injured.
During the night another Russian strike hit an industrial plant in Kryvyi Rih. One person was killed and three were wounded. A 54-year-old man was taken to hospital in a serious condition.
In total, two people were killed and at least 22 wounded in the Dnipropetrovsk region, including a child, governor Oleksandr Hanzha said.
Russian attacks also hit the Zaporizhzhia region. Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces have carried out strikes on 45 towns and villages, including five missile attacks on Zaporizhzhia city. Two people were killed and 11 injured in the region.
In the Donetsk region, four people were killed and five wounded. Two people died in Sloviansk, one in Kramatorsk and another in Yasnohirka, governor Vadym Filashkin said.
In the Kyiv region, one person was killed and three were injured, including a child. Russian attack drones struck five districts: Brovary, Obukhiv, Bucha, Boryspil and Vyshhorod. Fifteen facilities were damaged, including seven houses, vehicles, warehouses, hangars and a power line.
In the Sumy region, a 68-year-old man was killed in a Russian drone strike on the Myropillia community. In a separate attack on the Novoslobidske community, a 64-year-old man was wounded. Over the course of the day, Russian forces carried out more than 50 attacks on 25 localities there, using artillery, mortars, FPV drones, other unmanned aerial vehicles and guided air-dropped bombs.
In the Kharkiv region, a 32-year-old man was killed in an attack on Kharkiv, and a 19-year-old man was wounded elsewhere in the region. Russian forces struck Kharkiv and seven other localities, using guided air-dropped bombs and various types of drones.
In the Kherson region, 18 people were wounded. Russian attacks targeted residential areas as well as critical and social infrastructure. Fifteen residential buildings were damaged, along with shops, a petrol station, a service station, an ambulance and vehicles.
Attack on Russian plant
Ukraine’s defence forces confirmed that during the night of 11 to 12 September they carried out a strike on the Tolyattikauchuk plant in Russia’s Samara region. The factory supplies products used by the Russian military-industrial complex.
The attack sparked a fire on the plant’s premises. “The scale of the damage is still being assessed,” Ukraine’s General Staff said.
The plant produces, among other things, synthetic rubber, monomers, fractions and additives for high-octane fuels. The Ukrainian military stresses that synthetic rubber is used, among other purposes, in the production of solid fuel for short-range missiles and ballistic rockets.
Earlier, “Ukrainska Pravda” reported a strike by Ukrainian forces on the Machine-Building Plant in Snizhne, located in Russian-occupied territory of the Donetsk region. The plant manufactures components for gas turbine engines, including compressor and turbine discs and blades.
Ukraine targets Russia’s “shadow fleet”
As Russia was carrying out its overnight bombardment of Ukraine, Ukrainian forces continued operations aimed at the country’s economic backbone.
On 12 September, Robert “Brovdi” Browdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, announced further attacks on Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet”, used to transport Russian oil in circumvention of some sanctions.
According to Browdi, since the operation began around ten weeks earlier, Ukrainian forces have attacked a total of 285 vessels belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet” operating in the Azov and Black Seas.
The highest number of attacks was recorded in July: 215. In August, a further 54 vessels were struck, and between 1 and 11 September another 16.
Browdi claims that the Ukrainian strikes have almost brought traffic by Russia’s “shadow fleet” in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait to a halt. He says the operation has also seriously impeded its activity in the northern and north-eastern parts of the Black Sea.
The commander released footage which, he said, shows an attack by Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces on a sanctioned Russian tanker belonging to the “shadow fleet”. The ship was reportedly being escorted by a Russian helicopter.
Browdi stressed that revenues from Russian oil exports are one of the sources of funding for the war against Ukraine. Attacks on vessels involved in transporting Russian oil are therefore intended as part of broader efforts to limit Moscow’s financial capabilities.