Russian forces launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight on May 5, 2026, targeting energy and critical infrastructure. The deadliest impact occurred in the Poltava region, where five people were killed – including two rescuers – and dozens were injured.
Regional authorities and the Interior Ministry reported the attack.
Details
According to the Air Force, Russia launched 11 Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 164 attack drones. Ukrainian air defences shot down or suppressed most of the drones and one missile. However, strikes hit at least 14 locations.
In the Poltava region, a gas production facility came under attack. Russian forces launched a second missile strike after emergency crews arrived at the scene of the fire. The attack killed five people – three employees and two rescuers. Among the victims were Hero of Ukraine Viktor Kuzmenko and firefighter Dmytro Skryl.
At least 37 people were injured, some of them seriously. More than 3,000 customers lost gas supply, and the attack damaged railway infrastructure. Authorities declared days of mourning in the region.
Other regions also came under attack:
- In the Kharkiv region, drone strikes injured civilians.
- In the Kyiv region, at least two people were injured in Brovary and Vyshhorod district, and the strikes damaged homes and infrastructure.
- In the Dnipropetrovsk region, one man was seriously injured, and another person was injured in the Nikopol area.
- In the Kherson region, one person was killed and seven others were injured.
- In the Zaporizhzhia region, three people were killed and 11 injured on May 4.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the second strike on rescuers “absolute cynicism,” saying Russia deliberately targets those who save lives.
“It is absolute cynicism to ask for silence for propaganda celebrations while launching such missile and drone strikes in the days before. Russia can stop the fire every day, and that would end the war and our responses. Peace is needed, and it requires real steps. Ukraine will act symmetrically,” he said.
Context
Mass combined attacks using missiles and drones remain a core Russian tactic aimed at Ukraine’s energy and civilian infrastructure. Follow-up strikes on emergency responders pose a particular danger and are widely regarded as potential war crimes.
Earlier, The Ukrainian Review reported that on April 16 Russia launched more than 700 aerial targets at Ukraine in a single day, killing civilians in at least four regions.
