Russian forces hit Kyiv, Odesa, and Dnipro with a coordinated barrage of ballistic missiles and Shahed drones in the early hours of 16 April 2026, killing at least 13 civilians and injuring more than 86 — the deadliest Russian assault on Ukrainian cities so far this year.
Seven people died and 11 were wounded in Odesa after missiles struck residential buildings in the Prymorsky district. In Dnipro, two civilians were killed and 27 injured when a strike collapsed part of a five-storey apartment block. Kyiv's city military administration reported two fatalities and 32 injuries — including two children — after debris from an intercepted ballistic missile fell on the Shevchenkivsky district. "This is a deliberate attack on people in their homes," Kyrylo Tymoshenko, Deputy Head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, wrote on Telegram on 16 April 2026. "Russia targets civilians because it has no other way to change the course of this war."
Ukraine's Air Force said it destroyed 8 of Russia's 19 ballistic missiles, all 23 cruise missiles, and 636 of the 659 Shahed drones before they reached populated areas. Fourteen residential buildings across the three cities were structurally damaged, and three power substations in Odesa region were knocked offline, the Security Service of Ukraine said. The surviving munitions reached their targets despite what Ukraine's air defence command described as a maximum deployment of available assets.
“Ukraine's Air Force said it destroyed 8 of Russia's 19 ballistic missiles, all 23 cruise missiles, and 636 of the 659 Shahed drones before they reached populated areas.”
