Russia launches overnight attack on Ukraine with ballistic missiles and over 250 drones
Russia struck Ukraine overnight into August 27 with ballistic and anti-ship missiles along with 258 attack drones, most of which were intercepted, though hits were recorded in several locations.
Overnight into August 27, Russia carried out a large-scale combined attack on Ukraine using ballistic missiles, anti-ship missiles and a large number of attack drones, Ukraine's Air Force reported on social media.
According to the Air Force, Russia fired two "Oniks" anti-ship missiles from occupied Crimea, "Iskander-M"/KN-23 ballistic missiles from Russia's Bryansk and Kursk regions, and launched 258 attack drones — Shahed-type (about a third of them jet-powered), "Gerbera", S8000 "Bandereol" drones, and "Parodiya" decoy drones. The drones were launched from several directions inside Russia and occupied Ukrainian territory.
The main directions of the attack were Odesa, Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions, as well as Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian aviation, air defense missile units, electronic warfare and drone units, and mobile fire teams of the Defense Forces repelled the assault.
According to preliminary data as of 09:00, air defense shot down or suppressed one "Oniks" missile, seven "Iskander-M"/KN-23 ballistic missiles, three "Bandereol" missiles, and 222 drones of various types across the south, north, east and center of the country.
Despite this, hits from Russian weapons were recorded at 15 locations, and debris from intercepted weapons fell at another 11 locations. Some of Russia's weapons failed to reach their targets, with details still being clarified. The Air Force warned that the attack was ongoing, with several enemy drones still in Ukrainian airspace.
Background
In summer 2026, Ukraine faced an acute shortage of anti-ballistic missiles, prompting military leadership to limit the information published in morning reports on the number of Russian ballistic missiles launched and intercepted during massive combined attacks. On August 26, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that following meetings in the NB8 and Coalition of the Willing formats, Ukraine had received "a few missiles" for Patriot systems and AIM missiles, but noted more were needed.
