Russia bombards 9 Ukrainian cities overnight, calling the strikes 'massive'

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia bombarded cities across Ukraine with missiles and drones in an overnight onslaught that ran into the daylight hours of Thursday, when explosions echoed around Kyiv through the morning.

Ukraine is desperately short of U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles that can counter Russia’s ballistic missiles, and Moscow’s fast-flying jet-powered drones have brought another challenge since the Russian military's full-scale invasion began 4½ years ago.

Ukrainian officials say Russia builds up missile stocks and launches major attacks every few days, hoping to exhaust Ukrainian defenses through the sheer weight of numbers. In response, Ukraine has hit high-profile targets on Russian soil as the countries inflict mutual destruction.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces carried out a “massive” strike on targets in nine Ukrainian cities that began after nightfall on Wednesday. It described the targets as military-related, including industrial facilities, oil refineries, logistics hubs and port infrastructure.

Civilian areas, including apartment buildings, suffered damage. The barrage killed a 78-year-old woman in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and another person in the northern Kharkiv region, with at least 14 people reported wounded elsewhere, Ukrainian officials said.

“Russia continues to invest in missiles and in expanding its war, and that means more countermeasures are needed,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media, noting promises earlier this week by European countries to provide more air defense assistance.

“It is important that these (measures) are also supplemented by additional ballistic missile defense packages” through European purchases of weapons from the United States, he said.

Though the Russian Defense Ministry insisted only war-related targets were attacked, Russia appears determined to hurt Ukrainian businesses and dent the country's economy through attacks on private enterprise after Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes caused financial difficulties for Moscow.

Russian drones hit three major distribution centers, destroying depots belonging to a toy store chain and a confectionery company, and damaging another run by an electronics retailer, the companies said.

In addition, Moscow continued its efforts to wreck the Ukrainian power grid before the freezing winter months.

Four powerful glide bombs destroyed generating equipment at the southern Kherson region’s combined heat and power plant, forcing it to shut down, its operator Naftogaz said.

Zelenskyy was due to visit neighboring Moldova on Thursday to mark its national day commemorating its 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. Ukraine announced its independence the same year.

Russia’s neighbors in Eastern Europe are concerned its invasion of Ukraine could trigger a wider conflict, and drones flying into its airspace have fueled jitters.

Moldova’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday that five drones breached its airspace overnight, but it didn’t specify who fired them.

Ukraine’s air force said defenses shot down or suppressed seven Russian ballistic missiles, though it didn’t say how they achieved that.

Four districts of Kyiv were hit during the night, damaging residential buildings, a school and a medical facility, though no casualties were reported, city police said.

Russian forces struck industrial facilities as well as energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s central Poltava region, said Vitalii Diakivnych, head of the Poltava regional military administration.

The southern Odesa region also came under a major Russian attack lasting more than seven hours, according to Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration.

The barrage damaged a 16-story residential building and two educational facilities as well as a grain elevator, he said. Odesa is a key port for Ukraine’s vital exports of grain and other agricultural products.

Some trains were delayed by more than 17 hours following the attack, according to Ukrainian state rail company Ukrzaliznysia.

Ukraine has also fired hundreds of long-range drones almost nightly at targets in Russia.

Ukraine’s General Staff said that plane-launched missiles hit Russia’s main and backup command posts near the eastern city of Donetsk, where Ukrainian defenders are under pressure from a Russian push.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday that its air defenses shot down 267 Ukrainian drones over 14 Russian regions, the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

After razing huge warehouses in recent months belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online retailer, Ukrainian drones are now taking aim at Ozon, the country's second-largest e-commerce company.

Ozon initially said that its logistics facilities in the cities of Orenburg and Ufa were attacked, but neither of the premises caught fire. A later alteration to the company statement said that only the Ufa site was attacked, while the Orenburg facility was evacuated because of an alert, but resumed normal operations.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A firefighter walks next to a destroyed warehouse after Russian drone attacks at the outskirt of Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Firefighters put out a fire at warehouse stores after a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Smoke rises above warehouse stores after a Russian air attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A woman begs for money at Maidan metro entrance during an air raid alarm in central Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Commuters shelter at Palats Sportu metro station during an air raid alarm in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Smoke rises over the city center after a Russian attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Smoke rises over the city center after a Russian attack on Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Large swaths of California are expected to see fire weather starting Thursday and thousands of people could lose power as utilities try not to spark wildfires during hot and windy conditions expected to last through Saturday.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who has faced criticism for her city's response to deadly fires in 2025, said she's directed the fire department to deploy personnel and equipment ahead of the winds. The fire department has also requested assistance from the state’s office of emergency services, she said.

“It’s a pretty widespread event of elevated fire weather, so the whole SoCal region should really be on alert,” said Rose Schoenfeld, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Dry, warm and gusty northeast winds known as Santa Anas, which blow from the interior of Southern California toward the coast and offshore, are expected, with the strongest winds forecast for Thursday afternoon through Friday afternoon.

The winds are expected to reach 20 to 40 mph (32 to 64 kph), with gusts from 50 to 70 mph (80 to 113 kph), in the San Gabriel mountains in Los Angeles County and the Santa Susana mountains, which are mostly in Ventura County, Schoenfeld said. Elevated, though brief, critical fire weather conditions are also forecast for portions of the Santa Lucia mountains in San Luis Obispo County.

Dangerous conditions began earlier in Northern California, with some communities in the Sierra Nevada and its foothills experiencing strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity starting Wednesday night, the National Weather Service said.

The service issued a Red Flag Warning for parts of central and Northern California starting Thursday and lasting through Friday morning, saying that any fires would spread rapidly. Such warnings are issued when weather conditions create an increased risk of wildfires.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company had notified 88,000 customers in 29 counties that it may need to proactively turn power off to reduce the risk of winds toppling over energized power lines that could start a fire. The planned shutoffs had started for some customers by Wednesday night.

The potential interruption in service to customers from the Central Coast to the upper corners of the Sierra Nevada could last through Saturday afternoon, the company said.

In Southern California, the Red Flag Warning for the mountainous areas in Ventura and Los Angeles counties will be in effect from Thursday morning through Friday night.

“We are augmenting our staffing, positioning our people and pre-deploying equipment ahead of this weather so we are ready before the first call comes in," Los Angeles Fire Chief Jaime Moore said. “We are asking residents to do their part, too. Clear the streets, have a plan and stay informed.”

In January 2025, the Palisades Fire — fanned by Santa Ana winds — ripped through a hillside Los Angeles neighborhood, killing 12 people and destroying mansions with spectacular ocean views. Another fire that burned at the same time in the city of Altadena, in Los Angeles County, killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 homes and businesses.

Schoenfeld said the Santa Ana winds are not going to be as strong as during those fires, when they were gusting 60 to 100 mph (96 to 160 kph).

Authorities determined the Palisades Fire was a carryover fire from the Lachman Fire. The Eaton Fire was caused by sparks from an idle transmission tower owned by Southern California Edison, officials said.

Southern California Edison’s online dashboard on Wednesday showed it was considering public safety shutoffs that could affect 245,000 customers in Kern, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura counties. Most of those customers — 124,000 — are in Ventura County, just north of Los Angeles.

FILE - Residences leveled by a wildfire in Paradise, Calif., are seen on Nov. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

FILE - Water is dropped by helicopter on the advancing Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent, File)

FILE - The Palisades Fire ravages a neighborhood amid high winds in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File)

FILE - Flags fly under heavy winds before sunset as a plume of smoke from the Franklin Fire rises over the ocean Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes,File)