Russian forces carried out a large-scale overnight attack on Ukraine on March 24, striking Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, and the Kharkiv region. The strikes killed and injured civilians and damaged residential buildings, infrastructure, and a passenger train.
Regional military administrations in Poltava and Zaporizhzhia, along with the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, reported the attacks.
Regional breakdown of the attack
Poltava
Explosions hit Poltava at around 3 a.m. The strikes damaged residential buildings and a hotel and sparked fires. Preliminary reports indicate that two people were killed and 11 others injured.
Zaporizhzhia
Russian forces launched a combined missile and drone attack. The strikes damaged residential buildings, commercial facilities, and industrial infrastructure.
Officials confirmed one fatality – a 32-year-old man. The number of injured has risen to nine, including three women aged 31, 39, and 69, and six men aged between 48 and 65.
Fires broke out across the city.
Kharkiv region
An FPV drone struck a commuter train running between Slatyne and Kharkiv while it stood at a station. The attack killed a 61-year-old passenger. The driver and assistant suffered acute stress reactions. Authorities classified the incident as a war crime.
Officials also reported a drone crash in the city of Kharkiv, which caused no casualties or damage.
Poland scrambled fighter jets
After detecting Russian aerial targets over western regions of Ukraine, Poland put its air defense system on high alert. The country’s Armed Forces operational command scrambled fighter jets and long-range radar aircraft, and also deployed ground-based air defense and radar monitoring systems.
Scale of the attack: more than 400 aerial targets
According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia deployed 426 aerial attack assets:
- 7 Iskander-M / S-400 ballistic missiles
- 18 Kh-101 cruise missiles
- 5 Iskander-K cruise missiles
- 4 guided air-launched missiles (Kh-59/69/31)
- 392 attack drones (including Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas, and others
Russian forces launched the attack from multiple directions, including the Caspian Sea region. Ukrainian air defenses shot down or suppressed 390 targets – 25 missiles and 365 drones of various types.
Context
Russia has recently intensified attacks on civilian infrastructure, including railway transport. Previous strikes on passenger trains in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions have resulted in civilian deaths.
In total, Russian forces launched a record number of aerial attacks on Ukraine in 2025, using more than 60,000 guided aerial bombs, around 2,400 missiles, and over 100,000 drones of various types.
Earlier, The Ukrainian Review reported that about 80% of Ukraine’s territory lacks air defense systems capable of countering ballistic threats, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
