Russian drones target Kyiv gas stations, aiming to rattle civilians

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drones targeted roadside gas stations in Kyiv for a second straight day Friday, as Moscow broadened its air war in what Ukrainian officials say is an effort to rattle civilians.

Russian strikes on urban gas stations have intensified in recent months, mostly in regions near the front line in eastern and southern Ukraine. It is part of a campaign to disrupt civilian life and weaken morale that has also included attacks on food distribution hubs, sporadically leaving some supermarket shelves bare in the Ukrainian capital.

Ukraine is urgently trying to improve its air defenses as Russia's invasion stretches into its fifth year, and on Thursday won pledges of more support from Canada.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has extended its own long-range drone campaign deep into Russia, straining air defenses across its bigger neighbor’s vast territory. On Thursday, its military reported hitting a refinery more than 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) away in Siberia as Kyiv tries to hurt Russia’s vital oil sector. Its strikes have caused fuel shortages in Russia, one of the world’s biggest energy producers.

Russia’s oil product exports hit record lows in August, and Moscow is importing fuel from South Korea and India, the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air said in a report.

“Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s refining capacity have turned tables on the world’s once largest oil product exporter to see them start importing fuels, with imports surging to a record 172,000 metric tons (189,600 tons) in August — more than seven times the previous monthly high,” the Finland-registered nonprofit said Thursday.

Drones hit two gas stations in 10 minutes in Kyiv’s Dniprovskyi and Obolonskyi districts Friday. Five people, including a rescuer, were wounded, the State Emergency Service said.

Ukrainian officials and analysts have warned for months that Russia would extend gas station strikes to the capital as part of its campaign to intimidate civilians.

“Russia is systematically attacking places where it knows people will be spending their time going about their daily lives, seeking to maximize casualties, spread fear, and put pressure on Ukrainian society,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X late Thursday.

Authorities have urged residents not to linger near gas stations and other exposed infrastructure during air raid alerts.

Pavlohrad, a city in central Ukraine, observed an official day of mourning Friday for five residents killed near shopping malls in broad daylight by Russian drones the previous day.

The attack also wounded 67 people, Sybiha said on X.

In the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a 32-year-old woman and her 10-year-old son were wounded in an overnight Russian drone attack, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. The drones struck a nine-story apartment block and a shopping mall, it said.

Efforts to put out the blazes were slowed by the constant threat of repeat strikes, forcing firefighters to stop working and take shelter, it added.

Ukraine launched a major barrage overnight from Thursday to Friday, with the Russian Defense Ministry saying air defenses intercepted 777 Ukrainian drones over 16 Russian regions, as well as occupied Crimea and the waters of the Azov and the Caspian seas.

Two people were killed and three others wounded overnight in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Tula region south of Moscow, local officials said Friday.

A Ukrainian drone strike during the night started a fire at the Saratov oil refinery in southwestern Russia, Russian independent online outlet Astra said Friday.

Kyiv has repeatedly targeted that refinery, which was last hit in early August.

Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.

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

A civilian walks by after a gas station was hit by a Russian drone in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A civilian reacts after a gas station was hit by a Russian drone in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A policeman smokes near a damaged gas station after a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A worker leaves the damaged gas station after a Russian drone strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

CAIRO (AP) — Saudi airstrikes on Friday hit the airport in the Yemen port city newly seized by Iranian-backed rebels, a Houthi broadcaster reported, a day after the Houthis entered Mokha on the Red Sea, bringing them closer to the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait. There was no immediate report of damage or deaths.

The Houthis' advance further threatens commercial shipping on an important alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. But there is “no need for international concern,” Hazam al-Assad, a member of the rebels’ political bureau, told The Associated Press, saying they are responding to Saudi aggression, and “our forces have a bank of big important targets” in case Riyadh keeps up the strikes.

Earlier Friday, Iran’s government called for an end to Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Yemen, throwing its support behind its ally, the Houthis. In its first statement since the rebels entered the port, Iran’s Foreign Ministry also called for a return to negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.

The rebels’ capture of Mokha, overlooking tanker routes out of the Red Sea, could boost Iran’s strategy of driving up world oil and gas prices to pressure the United States, experts say. It also raises concerns of a new front opening after more than six months of war in the region – one in which Saudi Arabia is forced to respond.

Experts say the developments in Yemen could give Tehran more leverage in any negotiations with the U.S. On Wednesday, the spokesperson for Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard called for any negotiated settlement with the U.S. to include Yemen, the first explicit reference to that front.

The Houthis’ entry into Mokha on Thursday was their biggest territorial gain in years against their Saudi-backed Yemeni opponents. It brought them within 50 miles (80 kilometers) of the Bab el-Mandeb, a strait that has become an important alternative for global shipping as Iran targets vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

A senior military official with Yemen's internationally recognized government told the AP they were stunned that the Saudi air force didn’t strike the Houthis earlier, as they were advancing on Mokha. He assessed that Saudi Arabia didn’t get a green light from the U.S. to embark on a large-scale air campaign.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t allowed to speak to the media, also blamed “lack of coordination” between Yemen's army and allied forces, saying it gave the Houthis “a priceless opportunity.”

The Houthis had already attacked Saudi shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb and Red Sea since declaring a blockade there in July, as well as oil infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia. The Houthis said it was in response to the kingdom’s blockade of Houthi-held parts of Yemen, in place for years.

New disruption to the waterway could mean trouble for all shipping and for the price of crude oil, which has now soared again. Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb to export its crude since Iran has been targeting vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. About 12% of the world’s goods are typically shipped through the strait.

Shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb had fallen by about 60% since the Houthis began attacking some ships there in late 2023 while expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Shipping increased this year as Saudi Arabia sought alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, but renewed Houthi threats have “curtailed” that activity, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

Saudi Arabia, which earlier this week said it had always offered “opportunities for negotiation,” also has said it has the right to defend itself in response to the Houthis’ blockade. The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia spoke Thursday about diplomatic efforts to “restore stability” to the region, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media.

In a statement released Friday, the National Defense Council of Yemen’s Saudi-backed and internationally recognized government on Thursday strongly condemned the Houthis’ renewed attacks on Saudi Arabia.

The council also acknowledged that Yemen’s government is on the front line of freedom of navigation, and called for international support as the Houthis swept along the Red Sea coast toward the Bab el-Mandeb.

The escalating fighting threatens to end a fragile truce that had largely halted Yemen’s civil war since 2022.

At stake are the 40 million people in the Arab world’s poorest country who fear a return to the conflict that killed 150,000 and brought many others to the brink of famine.

The Houthis have been at war with Yemen’s government since 2014, when the rebels swept from their mountainous heartland and seized much of northern and central Yemen. Saudi Arabia entered the war the following year on behalf of the government.

Anna reported from Jerusalem.

Yemen's Houthi rebels ride a motorbike during a mobilization campaign in Sanaa, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026. (AP Photo)