Ukraine and Russia exchange heavy aerial strikes on military and civilian targets

Ukraine and Russia engaged in heavy overnight and daytime aerial exchanges on September 17. Ukrainian forces conducted coordinated operations using unmanned systems and intelligence services to strike targets deep within Russia. These strikes hit a military airfield in the Rostov region, damaging an An-12 aircraft, two An-26 aircraft, and three helicopters, as well as the Yaroslavl oil refinery.

In retaliation, Russian forces launched strikes across several Ukrainian cities. In Kyiv, attacks damaged a residential building, a school, and a petrol station, wounding 18 people, including two children. In the Zhytomyr region, a strike on an industrial park near Korosten killed one person. Other Russian attacks targeted Zaporizhzhia, causing a large fire at a market, and Dnipro, where two people were injured.

In Russia, Moscow officials reported that air defense units intercepted 29 Ukrainian drones targeting the capital. Meanwhile, in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region, Ukrainian drone strikes on trucks reportedly killed three people and injured 10 others.