Russian and Ukrainian forces exchanged another round of overnight long-range strikes into August 22. Russia targeted Kyiv and Odesa oblasts, while Ukraine hit logistics and refining infrastructure in Russia’s Samara region.
The attacks came as the toll from a Russian strike on a Kryvyi Rih shopping mall the previous day continued to climb. President Volodymyr Zelensky said drones struck the mall in two waves roughly 30 minutes apart, with the second hitting as rescue crews worked the site, calling it “cynical and vile.” The death toll rose to 16, with 130 injured (63 hospitalized) and nine, including two children, still missing, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing regional officials Oleksandr Hanzha and Oleksandr Vilkul. The strike was among the reasons Kyiv held a day of mourning on August 21, alongside a separate attack on the capital late August 20 that killed at least 14.
In Kyiv, Russian forces struck a railway enterprise in Darnytsia with a ballistic weapon, killing the site’s brigade foreman. Ukrzaliznytsia chief Oleksandr Pertsovskyi said the strike hit almost simultaneously with the air-raid alert; most of the crew had already been evacuated, Glavcom reported. A warehouse fire also broke out in the district, with an initial death and injuries reported, RBC-Ukraine said.
On the Russian side, Ukrainian forces struck an Ozon logistics hub in Chapayevsk, Samara Oblast, reportedly the first such hit on an Ozon facility, sparking a major fire, Ukrainska Pravda reported. The same night, drones also hit the Novokuibyshevsk oil refinery nearby, RBC-Ukraine said; Ozon had not commented. Unconfirmed Telegram reports also claimed a drone strike on the port of Yeysk.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported downing or suppressing 191 Russian targets overnight, including three Kh-31P/Kh-59 missiles, six “Banderol” munitions and 182 of 217 launched drones, according to a statement shared with Conflict Alert, with impacts at 41 locations.
Neither side’s claims have been independently verified by Western wire services. The mounting Kryvyi Rih toll and fresh strikes on Kyiv and Odesa point to a punishing few days for Ukrainian civilians, even as Ukraine widens its own strikes on Russian logistics.
