At least seven people were killed Saturday as Russia and Ukraine exchanged strikes, with attacks reported across several regions and the aerial war between the two countries continuing to intensify.

Russian attacks killed four people in Ukraine, according to local officials. Two women were killed after becoming trapped beneath the rubble of their destroyed home in Zaporizhzhia, while a separate Russian strike on the city of Sumy killed two people.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was escalating its attacks and cited strikes on residential areas in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia, as well as in the Odesa, Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

“It is essential that our partners not forget: Russia is escalating every single day,” Zelenskyy wrote on Saturday, calling for stronger international responses.

Russia has continued using cruise and ballistic missiles, powerful glide bombs and jet-powered drones against Ukraine, while progress along the front lines has slowed after more than four years of full-scale war.

Ukraine has also continued using long-range drones to target Russian infrastructure, including oil refineries and industrial facilities.

A Ukrainian drone attack in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region killed three people and wounded two others, local officials said. Regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said the attack caused fires at two industrial sites, while Russian media later reported that an oil refinery had been targeted.

In Ukraine’s Kyiv region, two people were injured overnight after a Russian drone strike caused a fire at a warehouse in the Boryspil district.

Russian drones also struck several areas of Kyiv, injuring four people and damaging residential and office buildings, Ukrainian officials said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its attack on Kyiv damaged a data center that supported cellphone internet services and Starlink satellite communications systems.

The latest exchange of attacks came as diplomatic efforts to end the war showed no clear breakthrough. Zelenskyy had appealed earlier in the week at the United Nations for countries to increase economic pressure on Russia through sanctions and trade restrictions.

The continued strikes have raised further concerns over the expansion and intensification of the aerial conflict as both sides continue targeting military, industrial and infrastructure sites.

SOURCE: Associated Press (AP), September 26, 2026.