Russian strikes kill five in Pavlohrad and hit economic sites across Ukraine

Pavlohrad, Ukraine. Russian drones struck the central part of the industrial city of Pavlohrad on Thursday, killing five people, while attacks also hit a petrol station in Kyiv and an international agribusiness facility in Dnipro.

Casualties in Dnipropetrovsk region

Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said Russia used drones, artillery and aerial bombs to strike five districts in the region, killing two additional people.

A total of 76 people were injured, including several children, he said.

Photos posted online showed damaged shops and burned-out vehicles in Pavlohrad, a key supply route linking central Ukraine with eastern front lines.

Economic and logistics targets hit

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

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

Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said Russian 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.

Petrol station attack

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.

“There is no military objective in such strikes. This is terror and intimidation of the civilian population,” Ukrnafta chief executive Bohdan Kukura said on Facebook.