Russian Strikes Kill Couple Near Kyiv as Drones and Missile Pound Cities Across Ukraine

Russian forces pounded cities across Ukraine overnight with an Iskander-M ballistic missile and waves of drones, killing a couple near Kyiv and injuring others as attacks struck Odesa, Zaporizhzhia and Kryvyi Rih, officials said.

Human Cost

Local reports said the woman killed in the Kyiv-area strike had a four-year-old daughter who survived. Officials added that four people, including two children, sought medical attention after the attack. Emergency services reported a 17-storey residential building in Kyiv sustained minor roof damage and shattered windows on upper floors.

A firefighter works in a residential area damaged during overnight Russian drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine January 28, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via REUTERS

'When I carried her out, the girl started crying very hard, and then she began to shake violently,' said Marian Kushnir, a neighbour and journalist who helped rescue the child. 'I felt a lot of pain... when, holding a crying four-year-old child in my arms, I realised that her mother was dead.'

Wider Damage

Ukraine's air force said Russia launched about 146 drones overnight; Ukrainian defences shot down 103 of them. In Odesa, which had declared a day of mourning after a previous drone strike killed three people, three more people were hurt and port and industrial facilities were damaged. Ukraine's Sea Ports Authority said the Black Sea port of Pivdennyi was attacked but remained operational.

Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba reported damage to manufacturing facilities, a locomotive and hangars in the Odesa region, and emergency crews were extinguishing fires. Emergency services also said a monastery was hit and caught fire during the strikes.

Firefighters work in a residential area damaged during overnight Russian drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine January 28, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via REUTERS

At dawn, Zaporizhzhia was struck, leaving six people wounded and damaging 14 apartment buildings while causing partial power outages, Governor Ivan Fedorov said. In Kryvyi Rih two people were injured and an infrastructure facility was significantly damaged, leaving 243 buildings without heating, officials added. Kyiv authorities continue repairs to restore heating to roughly 700 apartment blocks after an earlier strike affected about 6,000 buildings.

Context And Response

The latest raids come ahead of a fresh round of U.S.-brokered peace talks expected this weekend following meetings in Abu Dhabi last week. The strikes followed a separate drone attack on a passenger train in the northeast that killed five people, an assault President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denounced as 'terrorism'.

A firefighter works in a residential area damaged during overnight Russian drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine January 28, 2026. Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via REUTERS

Zelenskiy condemned the apartment-block strike and an attack on a residential neighbourhood in Zaporizhzhia, vowing a proportionate response. There was no immediate comment from Moscow. Both countries deny deliberately targeting civilians as the conflict approaches its four-year mark on Feb. 24.

Details compiled from Reuters reporting and statements by Ukrainian officials.