Published On 9/6/2026
Five people were killed and more than 40 others were injured on Tuesday in Russian missile and drone attacks targeting the Kharkiv and Zaporozhye regions in Ukraine, while Kiev continued its long-range attacks on targets inside territory controlled by Moscow.
The Ukrainian authorities announced that a Russian strike targeted the city of Chuhoiv in the Kharkiv region, killing three people, including a 22-year-old pregnant woman, in addition to two men aged 56 and 70 years.
The governor of the region, Oleg Sinigubov, said that the attack damaged residential buildings, shops and parking lots, while a number of civilians were injured.
The city of Kharkiv, the second largest Ukrainian city and close to the Russian border, was also subjected to a drone attack that resulted in the injury of between 15 and 16 people, according to local officials.
The authorities published pictures showing a destroyed residential building engulfed in flames, while firefighting teams worked to put out the fires that broke out in the building and a number of cars.
In the south of the country, Ukrainian emergency services announced that a Russian strike targeted the city of Zaporozhye, killing two people and wounding 32 others.
In a related context, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia launched between 166 and 168 long-range drones and two missiles towards Ukrainian territory during the night, confirming the interception of between 146 and 148 air targets.
Kyiv continues to call on its Western allies to strengthen its air defense capabilities to confront increasing Russian attacks.
Ukrainian attacks
In contrast, Ukraine continued its long-range attacks on targets inside Russian-controlled territory.
Russian officials announced on Tuesday that Ukrainian drones damaged the Chunhar Bridge, one of the most important bridges linking the Crimean Peninsula to the Ukrainian mainland under Russian control, for the second night in a row.
The head of the administration appointed by Russia, Vladimir Saldo, said that the bridge suffered damage that led to its closure to traffic, calling on drivers to use the alternative route through the Perekop corridor.
These attacks fall within a Ukrainian campaign that began last May with the aim of isolating the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014 and is considered a major military center for Russian forces in the Black Sea.
Repeated Ukrainian strikes on infrastructure and supply lines led to the imposition of fuel rationing measures in Crimea, according to Russian reports, while Russian authorities in the city of Sevastopol announced that air defense systems responded to a new drone attack targeting the city, which houses the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
These developments reflect the continued mutual military escalation between the two sides, at a time when political efforts aimed at ending the war are still facing great difficulties, despite continuing international efforts to revive the negotiation process between Moscow and Kiev.
In late May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked his American counterpart, Donald Trump, to provide Ukraine with more Patriot missiles, an advanced air defense system that the United States is suffering from a decline in its stocks due to extensive use in other international crises.
Negotiations faltered
In a political development, Zelensky announced that he had made two phone calls, which he described as positive, with American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, praising their readiness to help reach a solution to the conflict in the coming weeks.
Last week, the Ukrainian President published an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin in which he proposed holding direct face-to-face talks to end the ongoing war for the fifth year, but Moscow quickly rejected the proposal.
Zelensky said in a press interview that there is a division within the circles around Putin regarding the continuation of the war, indicating that some Russian economic circles have become aware of the extent of the pressures to which the Russian economy is exposed as a result of the conflict.
On the other hand, Putin stressed that the Ukrainian attacks caused damage but did not pose a threat to the Russian economy.
The latest Russian strikes came while Zelensky was returning to Kiev after talks he held in London with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany, where the three countries expressed their willingness to support efforts to reach a ceasefire.
