Major wave of Russian drone strikes in Ukraine damages synagogue, kills rescuer

‘Russian terror does not spare anyone, including religious communities,’ says Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry after Russia launched some 130 drones overnight

KYIV — Russian attacks overnight and into the early hours of Thursday killed one rescue worker in Ukraine, disrupted train services and damaged a synagogue, Ukrainian officials said.

AFP journalists in Kyiv heard air raid sirens and explosions during the night, as Russia launched 130 drones, according to the Ukrainian air force.

The emergency services said the rescue worker was killed and five others were wounded putting out a fire during a repeat Russian attack on the village of Zelenyi Gai in the eastern Kharkiv region.

“Another crime against rescuers,” its statement posted on social media said.

In Kyiv, eight people were wounded, city officials said, while the foreign ministry announced a synagogue had been damaged during the attack on three districts of the city.

“Russian terror does not spare anyone, including religious communities,” the foreign ministry said.

Consequences of the russian strike on a residential building and synagogue on Podil, Kyiv pic.twitter.com/l3BWo7x8Wp

— Chief Rabbi Of Ukraine Moshe Azman (@RabbiUkraine) October 22, 2025

Its statement added that 640 places of worship and 67 religious leaders had been killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

AFP journalists in Kyiv saw residential buildings whose windows were blown out in the attack and the charred remains of cars as residents cleared rubble.

In the eastern Sumy region, officials said two railway workers were wounded, while the state trains operator said services were disrupted in the border region.

Ukrainian police officers inspect remains of a drone at the site of an airstrike in Kyiv on October 23, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Andrew Kravchenko / AFP)

Russia’s defense ministry meanwhile said it shot down 139 Ukrainian drones overnight, mostly over western regions bordering Ukraine.

The governor of the Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow, reported a fire at an industrial site, after unverified images on social media showed a large flame at an oil refinery there.

The overnight exchange of Russian and Ukrainian fire came one day after Russian bombardments killed seven people, including two children, and spurred nationwide blackouts across Ukraine.