Russian attack on Pavlohrad kills seven and injures 76

Pavlohrad, Ukraine. Russian forces launched a broad attack on the industrial city of Pavlohrad on Thursday, killing seven people and injuring 76, including several children. The attacks also hit a petrol station in Kyiv and an international agribusiness facility in Dnipro.

Attack on Pavlohrad

Regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said on Telegram that Russian forces used drones, artillery and aerial bombs to strike five districts of Pavlohrad.

The city is a rail and logistics hub serving a coal-mining area and had a pre-war population of about 120,000. It has also served as a key supply route for the Ukrainian military between central Ukraine and eastern front lines.

Photos posted online showed damaged shops and burned-out vehicles.

Strikes on business and logistics sites

The attack on a Ukrnafta petrol station in Kyiv and an agribusiness facility operated by Bunge in Dnipro came amid an intensified Russian air campaign against logistics and economic targets.

Moscow has used ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones against warehouses, food suppliers and retail chains in recent weeks. Kyiv has struggled to repel the attacks amid a shortage of air defence systems.

Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said attacks on businesses and civilian infrastructure were “rapidly growing” and called on the government to “react and act in advance”.

Russia denies deliberately targeting civilian sites.

Kyiv petrol station

The strike on the Ukrnafta petrol station appeared to be the first jet-powered drone attack on such a facility in Kyiv. It followed about 300 attacks on petrol stations in or near Ukraine’s frontline regions in recent months.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said four people were injured.

Ukrnafta chief executive Bohdan Kukura said on Facebook that there was no military objective in such strikes, describing them as “terror and intimidation of the civilian population.”