Russia’s Massive Drone Assault Ravages Western and Central Ukrainian Cities

UPD: as of 6:31 p.m., two people were killed as a result of a Russian attack on central Ivano-Frankivsk, according to Svitlana Onyshchuk, head of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Military Administration.

Russian forces launched a prolonged large-scale drone attack on cities in western and central Ukraine on March 24, deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, according to TSN on March 24.

The attack is proceeding on Tuesday afternoon, with Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Dnipro, Vinnytsia, and other populated areas reported to be under threat from Russian drones.

TSN, citing Andrii Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, reported that Moscow had prepared the assault in advance.

“Russians had been accumulating resources for a long-term attack for a long time, and they are deliberately choosing civilian infrastructure in different cities as targets. Lviv, Dnipro, Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, and others, hold on,” Kovalenko wrote on Telegram, as quoted by TSN.

Explosions were heard in Ivano-Frankivsk during the drone assault, with air defenses active over the city, Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv confirmed.

Authorities urged residents in affected areas to remain in shelters because the threat of repeated drone strikes remained high.

Explosions were heard across several districts of Vinnytsia on March 24 during an ongoing Russian drone attack, with local footage showing a column of black smoke rising over the city as air defense systems responded to the threat.

Vinnytsia Mayor Serhii Morhunov confirmed the blasts and urged residents to remain in safe places until the all-clear, adding that officials had not yet reported confirmed strikes, while a second air raid alert was declared in the city by 5:12 p.m. local time.

The strikes on western and central cities also came as Russia expanded the attack into a wider nationwide wave.

Russia’s overnight combined strike extended far beyond a single target area, hitting cities across Ukraine with more than 400 drones and missiles in one of the broadest barrages in recent weeks.

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