Sweeping Russian air attack hits Ukraine as Putin attends China parade

People take shelter inside a metro station during an overnight air raid alert, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 3, 2025. REUTERS/Alina Smutko

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to attend a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two, in Beijing, China September 3, 2025. Sputnik/Sergey Bobylev/Pool via REUTERS

By Pavel Polityuk and Lidia Kelly

KYIV (Reuters) -Russia launched a sweeping overnight air attack on Ukraine that injured at least four railway workers and damaged critical infrastructure, Ukrainian authorities said on Wednesday.

The attacks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin attended a military parade in Beijing, to mark the end of World War Two, at which Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that the world faced a choice between peace and war.

Air raid alerts sounded for hours across Ukraine, with explosions heard in nine of its 24 regions, from Kyiv to Lviv and Volyn in the west, Ukrainian officials and media said.

Ukraine's air force said it downed 430 of 502 drones and 21 of 24 missiles launched by Russia overnight, adding that three missiles and 69 drones struck 14 locations.

Ukraine's western neighbour and NATO member Poland activated its own and allied aircraft to ensure safety, its armed forces command said.

Four railway workers in Ukraine's central Kirovohrad region were in hospital after the Russian attack, the state-owned railway said on messaging app Telegram, flagging delays of up to 7 hours to scores of services following damaged facilities.

The railway workers were among five injured in the major rail hub of Znamianka, where 28 houses were also damaged, Ukraine's emergency services said on Telegram.

In northern Chernihiv, the attack cut power to 30,000 consumers and damaged critical civilian infrastructure, Governor Viacheslav Chaus said.

Public transport in the western city of Khmelnytskyi faced "significant schedule disruptions" after the attack, its administration said on Telegram, with the regional governor flagging fires and damage to residential buildings among others.

Firefighters in the Ivano-Frankivsk region were battling flames that engulfed 9,000 sq m (10,800 sq yards) of storage facilities, emergency services said.

There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in their strikes in the war Russia launched with a full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne and Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)