Ukraine's air force says Russia launched 153 drones at Ukraine overnight into 25 October, and that its air defences intercepted 119 of them, including 64 jet-powered Shahed drones. The attack hit 15 sites, with debris falling on nine more, according to the Ukrainian account reported by 112.ua. Russia, in turn, said its defences downed 532 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and the Sea of Azov, a claim reported by QNA.

Civilian casualties were reported on both sides of the exchange. In Ukraine, eight people were killed and 51 wounded over the past day, according to reports citing Ukrainian officials, after a residential building in Vinnytsia was struck and a strike hit Synelnykove in the Dnipropetrovsk region. In Russia's Belgorod region, one person was killed and 10 wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack, according to the regional operational headquarters cited by Sputnik, while one person was killed and three wounded in Kharkiv.

Faster drones, harder to stop

The Ukrainian account stresses the growing share of jet-powered Shahed drones, which fly faster than the propeller-driven versions Russia has used for most of the war and are therefore harder for air defences to intercept. The overnight barrage also included low-cost Banderol cruise missiles. Ukraine struck Russian-occupied Crimea in the same exchange, while Britain and France separately carried out a joint military exercise, according to a Guardian briefing cited in reporting of the day's events.

Both sides issue near-daily claims about drones shot down, and those figures cannot be independently verified while fighting continues. What is clear is the pattern: long-range strikes by both sides have become routine, with Ukrainian cities facing nightly attacks on homes and energy infrastructure as winter approaches, and Russian regions reporting regular Ukrainian drone incursions in return.

Diplomacy runs alongside the fighting

The barrage came days after Russia agreed to resume three-way talks with Washington and Kyiv next month, and after a localised ceasefire around Oleshky in the Kherson region, brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump. Fighting has not paused for the diplomacy. Sources: 112.ua and Fana News / QNA.