Russian air defenses downed 389 incoming Ukrainian drones, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday, in what was the largest reported overnight attack on Russian regions and Crimea since Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine more than four years ago.
The drones were stopped over 13 Russian regions as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
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Rescue workers try to put out a fire caused by the fragments of a Russian drone that hit a private house during air attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Police officers examine the fragments of a Russian drone that hit a private house during air attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, March 23, 2026, a Russian Pion self-propelled 203 mm cannon fires towards a Ukrainian position. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Fire and smoke raises above the city center following Russia's drone attack in Lviv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Mykola Tys)
The attack underlined the growing capability of Ukraine’s domestically developed and manufactured long-range drones.
It came a day after Russia fired almost 1,000 drones and 34 missiles at civilian areas of Ukraine in the space of 24 hours, extending its usual nighttime barrage into daylight hours in one of its biggest aerial attacks of the war. At least six people were killed and around 50 people were injured, Ukrainian authorities said.
The United Nations cultural organization UNESCO on Wednesday said it was “deeply alarmed” by Russia hitting a World Heritage site in the western Ukraine city of Lviv during that bombardment.
The escalation in aerial attacks comes amid a pause in U.S.-mediated talks between delegations from Moscow and Kyiv, as Washington's attention is diverted by the Iran war and as Ukraine anticipates a spring offensive by Russia's bigger army.
Alexander Drozdenko, governor of the Leningrad region north of Moscow, said 56 drones were shot down there, and a fire broke out in the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga as the result of Ukraine's attack.
Ukrainian forces also carried out a missile strike on the Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine overnight, damaging energy infrastructure, its Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Power, water and heating supplies were disrupted, he said.
In Ukraine on Wednesday, Russian drones smashed into residential areas of the second-largest city, Kharkiv, during the afternoon, injuring at least nine people, according to mayor Ihor Terekhov.
The Ukrainian drone blitz aimed at Russia caught public attention in the Baltic states, which lie northwest of Ukraine and relatively close to potential Russian targets in the Leningrad region, which includes St. Petersburg, where drones came down.
Officials in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which have been close allies of Ukraine in the war, said the drones likely didn’t target them. Estonia and Latvia said the drones were Ukrainian, and Lithuania said the drone was a “stray,” without saying who launched it.
Estonian media reported that a drone coming from Russia clipped a power plant’s chimney early Wednesday but said electricity production was not disrupted. The plant is around 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the port of Ust-Luga that Ukraine targeted.
Also Wednesday, the Latvian defense ministry said a drone had crashed in a region close to Russia. No injuries or damage were reported.
In Moldova, on Ukraine’s southwest border, authorities on Tuesday urged citizens to spare electrical energy during peak hours, after Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid cut a key power line between Moldova and Romania.
Associated Press writers Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this story.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Rescue workers try to put out a fire caused by the fragments of a Russian drone that hit a private house during air attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Police officers examine the fragments of a Russian drone that hit a private house during air attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, March 23, 2026, a Russian Pion self-propelled 203 mm cannon fires towards a Ukrainian position. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
Fire and smoke raises above the city center following Russia's drone attack in Lviv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Mykola Tys)
HAFJELL, Norway (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin secured a record-tying sixth women’s overall World Cup skiing title by holding off a challenge from emerging German rival Emma Aicher in the final race of the season Wednesday.
Shiffrin needed only to finish in the top 15 of a giant slalom and the American standout secured that before Aicher even began her second run.
Shiffrin finished 11th and Aicher — who needed to win the race and hope that Shiffrin finished 16th or worse to clinch her first title — finished 12th.
“It’s quite emotional,” Shiffrin said. “This thing sums up a whole season of work and fighting with the whole team and I have to say to Emma that her skiing has been just outstanding and today it was just so cool to watch her, especially on the first run.
“I think the outcome of this day is that she can do this. And I think that’s the coolest thing about ski racing — that anything is possible,” Shiffrin added.
Shiffrin was only 17th after the first run but came down in first position in the second and then clinched it when the next two starters placed behind her.
After being told it was over, Shiffrin dropped to her knees, put her right hand to her face and appeared to be in tears as she asked her team, “Are you sure?”
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Shiffrin’s fiancee and the 2020 overall champion, was with her.
Aicher put the pressure on by skiing into third during the first run. But then the German made a major mistake early in her second run and lost all her speed.
“I had many moments where I thought, ‘Emma can win this race and I might not make points,'" Shiffrin said. “I’m very grateful right now because I think this this could go differently.”
Shiffrin matched Austrian downhill great Annemarie Moser-Pröll, who won her six titles in the 1970s.
Moser-Pröll won five straight titles from 1971-75 then a sixth in 1979. Shiffrin won three straight from 2017-19, then back-to-back titles in 2022 and ’23.
Lindsey Vonn is third on the women’s list with four overall titles.
And at 31, Shiffrin isn’t done yet.
“I’m ready for another season — or maybe not yet — but I’m excited to keep ski racing,” she said.
Marcel Hirscher leads the men’s list with eight overall titles.
Valerie Grenier of Canada added to her first-run advantage to claim her third career World Cup victory. Mina Fuerst Holtmann of Norway finished second on home snow, 0.43 behind, and discipline champion Julia Scheib was third, 0.57 behind.
Shiffrin was 2.02 behind and Aicher was 2.04 behind after a major mistake early in her second run dropped her down from third after the opening leg.
Shiffrin finished 87 points ahead of Aicher — 1,410 points to 1,323 points.
It’s been another stellar season for Shiffrin, who claimed the third Olympic gold of her career by dominating the slalom at last month's Milan Cortina Games.
Shiffrin also won nine of the 10 World Cup slaloms this season and has a record 110 victories across all disciplines — by far the most in the World Cup by any man or woman. Ingemar Stenmark is next best with 86 wins in the 1970s and ’80s.
The 22-year-old Aicher has never won a World Cup giant slalom and has a career-best finish of fourth, achieved this month at Are, Sweden. The only current skier who competes in every event, Aicher was aiming for her first overall title after taking home two silver medals — in downhill and team combined — from Milan Cortina.
Aicher, who has a Swedish mother and a German father and grew up mostly in Sweden, won three World Cup races this season — one downhill and two super-Gs.
Scheib already clinched the discipline title in the penultimate giant slalom of the season; while Olympic GS champion Federica Brignone shut her season down early.
Shiffrin's results and Vonn's domination in downhill until her horrific crash at the Olympics helped the U.S. women secure the Nations Cup title for the first time since 1982 by finishing ahead of perennial winner Austria.
With Olympic downhill champion Breezy Johnson, Paula Moltzan and Jacqueline Wiles also registering podium finishes, the U.S. produced 11 World Cup victories and 27 podium finishes with 16 different athletes contributing points throughout the season.
“This achievement is a testament to the strength of this team from top to bottom,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard chief of sport Anouk Patty. "Everyone played a role in this success.”
Tamara McKinney, Cindy Nelson and Christin Cooper led the U.S. to the 1982 title.
AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
Germany's Emma Aicher at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's giant slalom race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Hafjell, Norway, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
United States' Mikaela Shiffrin, back to camera, is hugged by her mother Eileen at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's giant slalom race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Hafjell, Norway, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
United States' Mikaela Shiffrin is overcome with emotion as her fiancee Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde stands by her side, at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's giant slalom race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Hafjell, Norway, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
United States' Mikaela Shiffrin at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's giant slalom race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Hafjell, Norway, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Canada's Valerie Grenier competes in an alpine ski, women's giant slalom race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Hafjell, Norway, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Germany's Emma Aicher competes in an alpine ski, women's giant slalom race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Hafjell, Norway, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
United States' Mikaela Shiffrin competes in an alpine ski, women's giant slalom race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Hafjell, Norway, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Germany's Emma Aicher competes in an alpine ski, women's giant slalom race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Hafjell, Norway, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
United States' Mikaela Shiffrin competes in an alpine ski, women's giant slalom race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Hafjell, Norway, Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
