Ukrainian forces launched a large drone strike on Russian positions in occupied Donetsk on Thursday evening, according to local Telegram channels.

Donetsk in eastern Ukraine has been under Russian occupation since 2014. The city hosts major industrial sites and remains one of the main rear areas supporting Russian forces in the east.

Residents reported the sound of dozens of drones around 8pm, followed by intense Russian anti-aircraft fire across several districts. 

Videos show gun and machine-gun fire directed at low-flying targets, which Ukrainian defense portal Militarnyi says suggests earlier strikes may have disabled some Russian missile and radar systems.

Footage from the scene captures the sound of drone engines, bursts of anti-aircraft fire, and at least one blast. A major fire was later visible at the Donetsk Metallurgical Plant, with several thick columns of smoke rising from the area.

Parts of the city lost power during the attack, pointing to possible damage to energy infrastructure. Witnesses said the drones arrived in waves and circled over the city for an extended period.

Militarnyi reports, based on the released clips, that the strike appears to have involved FP-2 kamikaze drones produced in Ukraine. 

Russia launched a large-scale overnight missile and drone attack on Ukraine on 14 November, killing at least five civilians in Kyiv and two in Chornomorsk, and injuring about 50 people across multiple regions, according to Ukrainian local and national authorities. Residential buildings, civilian infrastructure, and utility networks were damaged in Kyiv city, as well as in Kyiv Oblast, and several other regions including Odesa, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Kirovohrad.

Ukraine's Air Force says Kyiv was the primary target, with Kyiv Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast, Odesa Oblast, Poltava Oblast, and Cherkasy Oblast also affected.

Kyiv bears brunt of Russian attack with five deaths, apartments hit, power and heating outages reported

Russian drones and missiles struck nine districts of Kyiv during the overnight assault, according to reports from Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko and the Kyiv City Military Administration (KMVA).

All five fatalities occurred in Desnianskyi district, where rescue operations continued throughout the morning. Among the 35 wounded were a 10-year-old child and a 7-year-old with facial injuries, and a pregnant woman who required hospitalization. One man remained in critical condition as of the morning.

The attack damaged dozens of residential buildings across Kyiv's Dniprovskyi, Darnytskyi, Desnianskyi, Podilskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, Solomyanskyi, Holosiivskyi, Sviatoshynskyi, and Obolonsky districts. In Dniprovskyi district, debris hit a five-story building, causing destruction on lower floors and fires in two apartments. Rescue workers evacuated nine people from that building. The district saw three multi-apartment buildings and one private residence damaged, with five people wounded.

Podilskyi district suffered damage to five residential buildings and one non-residential structure, with fires reported on the 10th and 12th floors of different buildings. In Obolonskyi district, fires broke out on the seventh and ninth floors of one residential building. Desnianskyi district saw direct hits and fires in two multi-story buildings, where rescue teams worked through the morning clearing rubble.

A Kyiv woman from Dniprovskyi district described her experience to Suspilne:

"I heard nothing, I started putting out my hair. My hair caught fire, and then I saw that everything was dark, in smoke."

Power and heating facilities targeted

Russia damaged sections of Kyiv's heating networks during the attack, according to Klitschko. Parts of Desnianskyi district lost heating due to an emergency situation on heat transmission lines. Portions of Podilskyi district also experienced heating disruptions. Municipal services worked to determine the extent of damage and began immediate repairs.

Klitschko warned residents of possible electricity and water supply interruptions. Energy workers later reported they had eliminated localized emergency outages caused by the attack.

Azerbaijan embassy sustains damage from Iskander debris

Debris from an Iskander missile damaged Azerbaijan's embassy in Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported.

Seven more civilians injured across five districts of Kyiv Oblast

Kyiv Oblast authorities reported no fatalities, but seven people were injured. Regional administration head Mykola Kalashnyk mentioned six injuries, while Irpin Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn reported that the Russian attack also injured a woman in his city. 

• In Bila Tserkva, a 55-year-old man suffered thermal burns.
• In Fastivskyi district, a man sustained multiple shoulder wounds.
• In Vyshhorodskyi district, a 47-year-old man, a 56-year-old man, and a 7-year-old child were injured.
• In Buchanskyi district, a woman suffered a hand injury.
• In Irpin district, a woman was treated for a bruised arm.

Damage to dozens of residential and non-residential buildings was reported, but no fires were recorded in the oblast outside Kyiv city.

Russia possibly deploys Zircon hypersonic missile against Sumy

Russian forces struck the outskirts of Sumy at 7:05 a.m., with Zelenskyy stating that Russia used a Zircon-type missile according to preliminary data. The explosion damaged road pavement, ruptured a fire hydrant causing water leaks, and temporarily closed a road section. Artem Kobzar, acting mayor of Sumy, reported no casualties from the strike.

Russian forces also struck Sumy's industrial zone with drones around 9:00 a.m., causing a fire at a production facility. Sumy Oblast head Oleh Hryhorov noted that Russia attacked the industrial zone with drones for the second consecutive day. 

Odesa Oblast: two dead, seven injured in Chornomorsk market attack

Russian forces attacked a local market in Chornomorsk, Odesa Oblast, with strike drones, killing two people and wounding seven others. Some of the wounded remained in serious condition, according to Odesa Oblast head Oleh Kiper.

The strike damaged the city square, shop facades, and private vehicles. The blast wave shattered windows in a nearby college. Rescue workers and all relevant services worked at the scene.

Critical infrastructure hit across seven oblasts

Vice Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba reported heating and water supply disruptions in Kyiv city and oblast, Kharkiv, Odesa, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovohrad, and Donetsk oblasts. Repair crews deployed and activated reserve systems where needed.

• Russian forces struck a non-operational private facility in Chuhuiv, Kharkiv Oblast, with drones, causing a fire in an administrative building, according to Mayor Halyna Minaieva. The attack caused no casualties.
• More than 3,000 customers in Tsyrkuny community of Kharkiv Oblast lost gas service due to combat operations, Kharkiv branch of Gazmerezhi reported. The company received information about the gas supply disruption affecting part of Kharkiv district.
• In Kirovohrad Oblast, Russian attacks damaged power transmission lines in Novoukrainka district, leaving 16 settlements without electricity. Regional administration head Andrii Raikovych reported that power was restored to all affected settlements by 8:08 a.m.

Ukrainian Air Force: 430 drones and 19 missiles launched

Ukrainian Air Force said air defenders shot down or suppressed 419 aerial targets out of 449 detected. Russia reportedly started the attack from 6:00 p.m. on 13 November using strike drones and missiles from air, ground, and sea platforms.

Moscow fired 430 Shahed and Gerbera long-range strike drones and 19 missiles from several location in Russia and occupied Crimea.  Among the missiles used were three Kinzhal air-launched ballistic missiles from Ryazan Oblast, one Zircon anti-ship missile, six Iskander-K and Kalibr cruise missiles from occupied Crimea and the Black Sea, and nine Iskander-M and KN-23 ballistic missiles from Bryansk Oblast.

Ukraine’s Air Force stated that Russian forces launched 449 aerial threats: 430 strike UAVs and 19 missiles (ballistic and cruise).
Out of these, 419 were intercepted or suppressed:

• 405 drones
• 6 ballistic missiles (Iskander-M or KN-23)
• 6 cruise missiles (Iskander-K or Kalibr)
• 2 Kinzhal missiles

 The Air Force recorded missile and drone hits at 13 locations and debris falls at 44 locations.

Zelenskyy: attack aimed to maximize civilian harm

President Zelenskyy emphasized the deliberate nature of the Russian attack in his morning statement.

"A deliberately calculated attack to cause as much harm as possible to people and civilian infrastructure," he wrote. 

The President emphasized that Russia continues to benefit financially from oil exports by circumventing existing sanctions. He called for these evasion schemes to be effectively shut down, and urged allied nations, particularly in Europe and the United States, to provide Ukraine with additional air defense systems and interceptor missiles.

"A lot of work is being done with partners to strengthen air defense, but not enough. Strengthening with additional systems and interceptor missiles is needed. Europe and the USA can help. We count on real decisions," he added.

A Russian shadow laboratory for new military tactics is rapidly advancing, according to Kyiv military sources. The most elite drone center, Rubicon (also spelled Rubikon), is now focused on eliminating Ukrainian operators and operates in hot spots along the front, the Financial Times reported. 

Ukrainian soldiers say the defense of Pokrovsk was “like a holiday” for Ukrainian forces before Rubikon entered this sector of the front.

Armed, aggressive Russia is experimenting with new methods of warfare. Without support from the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the form of air defence, electronic warfare, and intelligence, Russian offensives become more dangerous.

New survival rule on the front 

“Be humble, be silent, mask your position, and don’t move when it’s not necessary. Best to sit in your trench and watch Instagram," jokes Ukrainian operator Dmytro.

According to experts, Rubikon has roughly 5,000 fighters and large financial resources. Its task is to disrupt Ukrainian logistics, destroy drone command teams, and train other Russian units.

Russian Rubikon has no days off

“They have a lot of people, and that means they can work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They can change teams every five hours, they can sleep. It’s more difficult for us because we don’t have many people to rotate all the time, and we still need to sleep," said another Ukrainian soldier. 

Meanwhile, Rob Lee of the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute notes that Rubikon has become a center of Russian army innovation, developing new tactics and technologies. 

"It’s more than a unit; it is a centre — a centre for all kinds of unmanned systems development," he says. 

Now Kyiv must counter the highly organized Rubikon strategy by developing its own clear, centralized battle plan, he added.

In response, the Ukrainian forces are creating their own “anti‑drone” groups, changing tactics, better camouflaging positions, and restricting movement.

Explore further

Ukrainian FP-2 drone carrying 105kg warhead eliminates Rubikon officers in occupied Avdiivka

Maximum access to technology

Earlier, LIGA.net reported that Russian military intelligence and Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov stand behind the Rubikon center, according to a Ukrainian Defense Intelligence officer with the callsign "Azimut". 

The officer added that Rubikon shows “strong political will and a large role” of Russian special services directly in organizing this structure.

The intelligence officer also noted that elitism indeed exists within Rubikon. For example, recruiters for this unit have the right to take personnel from any units.

“They simply arrive — and have full access to pilots from other combined-arms units," said the officer. 

Therefore, he noted, due to political will, this formation has “maximum opportunities for its development and maximum access to financing and technologies.”

Earlier, the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence reported that its soldiers had discovered the Rubikon base in Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast. The city fell under Russian control in 2014.

Using precise coordinates of Russia's position, Ukrainian intelligence operators directed its new FP-2 unmanned aerial vehicle, equipped with a 105-kilogram warhead, toward the Russian target amid dense urban terrain. 

As a result of the strike, Ukrainian Intelligence eliminated Russian officers and drone operators from the unit who were inside their headquarters.

The US has imposed new sanctions on 32 legal entities involved in the supply network for components used to produce Shahed-136 kamikaze drones. Among them are two companies registered in Ukraine, according to the US Department of the Treasury. 

Ukrainian companies under foreign control

The adversary may aim to use this information as “evidence” of corruption, internal collaboration with the enemy, or other theories. While the companies are formally registered in Ukraine, control is effectively in foreign hands.

An Iranian citizen, Bahram Tabibi, “used his Ukrainian shell companies” to “purchase and supply aerospace materials” for the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company, the producer of the Shahed drones.

Russia uses three distinct turboprop Shahed drone variants — all packed with foreign parts

The supplies included position indicators, magnetometers, AC generator components, engines, and other equipment.

The companies named are LLC "GK Imperativ Ukraine" and LLC "Ecofera"

According to the Opendatabot portal, LLC "GK Imperativ Ukraine" was registered in 2018 in Kharkiv and is engaged in trade. The company’s owner is an Iranian citizen, Bahram Tabibi Jabali.

As for LLC "Ecofera," no publicly available information has been found.