Russia launches mass drone attack on Ukraine

Russia launched one of the largest drone attacks of the war against Ukraine on May 13, 2026, sending hundreds of Shahed-type drones in multiple waves across central and western Ukraine throughout the day, targeting railway infrastructure, residential areas, port facilities, and energy installations across 14 regions simultaneously.

Ukrainian drone monitoring service Monitor recorded 168 drone tracks at 11:27 local time alone, with the attack continuing through the day in additional waves.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the ongoing nature of the assault in a statement released during the attack. “There are currently more than a hundred Russian drones in our skies, and there may be more waves of drone attacks throughout the day,” Zelenskyy said. “Russia continues its strikes and is doing so brazenly — deliberately targeting our railway infrastructure and civilian sites in our cities. Unfortunately, people were wounded and killed in these strikes; my condolences to all their families and loved ones.”

Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported that from the evening of May 12 through the morning of May 13, Russian forces launched 139 strike drones of various types, with Ukrainian air defenses neutralizing 111 through interception and electronic jamming. Twenty drones successfully reached their targets in that initial wave. With multiple additional waves confirmed throughout May 13, the total attack volume across the full day represents one of the most sustained single-day drone assaults Russia has conducted since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

The Monitor tracking image timestamped at 11:27 showed drone tracks concentrated heavily along a north-south corridor running through Chernihiv, Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Mykolaiv, and toward Odesa, with additional tracks visible over western oblasts including Khmelnytskyi region. The geographic pattern is consistent with targeting aimed at Ukraine’s railway network, the logistics backbone that moves military equipment, supplies, and personnel across the country. Zelenskyy explicitly identified railway infrastructure as a deliberate Russian target, and the overnight strikes confirmed by his statement specifically hit residential and railway infrastructure in the Dnipro and Kharkiv regions, port infrastructure in Odesa, and energy facilities in Poltava.

The Shahed-136 and its Russian-produced Geran variants have defined Russia’s sustained infrastructure campaign since the autumn of 2022. Produced at facilities including a plant in the Alabuga special economic zone in Tatarstan, the Geran family allows Moscow to sustain attack volumes at a cost per drone that is a fraction of any interceptor missile. The saturation tactics Russia has increasingly applied, launching large numbers simultaneously on varied approach vectors, force Ukrainian air defenses to commit multiple interceptors per target and accept a penetration rate that compounds with every successive wave. The 111 drones shot down or jammed overnight represent a genuine defensive achievement, but absorbing multiple additional waves across a full day places extraordinary pressure on interceptor stocks, crew endurance, and the radar and jamming systems that Ukraine’s air defense network depends on.

The May 13 attack arrives in a strategic context that Zelenskyy addressed directly in his statement. “Every time the war disappears from the top of the news, it encourages Russia to become even more savage,” he said. “It is important that our diplomats implement the agreements we reach at the leaders’ level as quickly as possible. Ukraine needs the capacity to defend itself every day, and only strong joint action can ensure this.” The timing of a mass drone assault during ongoing diplomatic discussions about a potential ceasefire carries its own message about Russian intentions that no statement from Moscow needs to articulate explicitly.

Zelenskyy closed his statement with direct appeals to Ukraine’s partners. “I thank everyone who is helping,” he said.