Ukrainian forces launched missile and drone attacks targeting Russian cities early Wednesday morning. Oleg Nikolaev, governor of Chuvashia Region, reported three injuries in Cheboksary—a city of nearly 500,000 people located approximately 900 kilometers from Ukraine’s border. Two victims were hospitalized with moderate injuries, while a third received minor wounds and was released.

Ukrainian media claimed Kiev deployed locally produced long-range Flamingo missiles in the Cheboksary attack, which reportedly targeted an electronics plant. Separately, Ukraine struck Samara Region overnight, leaving three individuals wounded as confirmed by local governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev.

The Russian Defense Ministry stated that 326 Ukrainian drones were shot down across Russia overnight, including over Moscow, Belgorod, Bryansk, Volgograd, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Novgorod, Rostov, Saratov, Smolensk, Orel, Tver, Tula, Ulyanovsk, and Krasnodar regions, as well as Crimea and the Black Sea.

This follows a pattern of Ukrainian aerial assaults. Last week, Russian forces conducted a large-scale missile and drone barrage targeting defense industrial sites in regions still under Ukrainian control—including parts of Zaporozhye and Kherson—as well as areas in Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava, Khmelnitsky, and Sumy. On May 24, Moscow deployed two state-of-the-art intermediate-range hypersonic Oreshnik systems in a major strike operation.

Russian officials have warned that they will respond to Ukrainian attacks on civilian targets with “systematic and consistent strikes” against military-related infrastructure, including drone manufacturing sites, command centers, and other “decision-making centers.” The Russian government maintains that its forces do not deliberately target civilians and that all strikes are directed at military facilities and defense industry.