Over 500 drones: Russia launches overnight attack on western Ukraine; houses damaged, many injured

Russian military conducted an extensive combined assault on Ukraine, deploying over 500 aerial weapons, predominantly focusing on the western regions, according to Kyiv's Wednesday announcement.

According to AFP, Ukrainian military officials reported that Moscow deployed 502 unmanned aerial vehicles and 24 missiles. Officials from western regions confirmed several civilian injuries were injured and damage to residential properties and public infrastructure.

"Three missiles and 69 strike drones hit in 14 locations, and the debris of downed projectiles fell in 14 locations," the air force added.

Meanwhile, Russia's sweeping overnight air attack resulted in injuries to at least four railway workers, prompting Poland to scramble defence aircraft, Ukrainian and Polish authorities said, as quoted by Reuters. The four workers in Ukraine's central region of Kirovohrad were in hospital after the attack, said the Ukraine's state-owned railway on the Telegram messaging app, warning of delays to scores of services caused by damage to rail facilities.

The attacks came as President Vladimir Putin attended a military parade in Beijing to mark the end of World War Two, at which President Xi Jinping warned that the world faces a choice between peace and war.

Air raid alerts were sounded for hours across Ukraine, with explosions heard in nine of its 24 regions, spanning from Kyiv to Lviv and Volyn in the west, Ukrainian officials and media said. Ukraine's western neighbour and NATO member Poland activated its own and allied aircraft to ensure safety, its armed forces command said. "The Russian Federation once again is carrying out strikes on targets located on the territory of Ukraine," the operational command said in a post on X.