Russian Missile and Drone Barrage Injures at Least 19 Across Ukraine, Including Children in Kyiv and Odesa

Russia launched a large overnight barrage of missiles and drones across Ukraine on September 17, striking Kyiv, the surrounding Kyiv region, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia and the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk. Ukraine's Air Force said it destroyed or suppressed 131 Russian aerial targets overnight.

At least 19 people were injured nationwide. In Kyiv's Dniprovskyi district, most of the injured were residents of a 16-story apartment building struck by a drone, including a 10-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy. In Odesa, seven people were injured, including two children, after strikes damaged a 19-story residential building. At the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk, three bulk carriers and a ferry were struck; a Tanzanian-flagged vessel's captain was killed and three crew members were injured.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces carried out counterstrikes overnight against targets including an oil refinery in Yaroslavl and a military airfield in Rostov region. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Russia may be planning strikes that could be framed as "accidental" against countries supporting Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said of a possible energy-sector truce: "I believe that achieving a truce could be one of the key outcomes" of a planned Zelenskyy-Trump meeting.

The strikes came despite a recently floated proposal for a truce covering attacks on energy infrastructure, which this barrage appears to undercut. Zelenskyy is expected to meet Trump around the UN General Assembly in the coming days, with a possible energy/Black Sea truce on the agenda. Peace negotiations remain stalled over territorial disputes.