MOSCOW/KYIV, 12th September, 2026 (WAM) -- Military operations between Russia and Ukraine saw a sharp escalation in aerial and ground attacks, with Moscow announcing the capture of the town of Veseloye in the Donetsk People's Republic and reporting intensive strikes on Ukrainian military-industrial and port facilities.
Both sides also reported shooting down or neutralising large numbers of drones and claimed heavy personnel losses inflicted on the other side, estimated at around 1,500 troops over the past 24 hours.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said it had carried out large-scale strikes on industrial facilities supporting the Ukrainian military, including the Zaporizhstal plant in Zaporizhzhia, the Interpipe complex in Dnipropetrovsk and a metallurgical facility in Kryvyi Rih, as well as logistics warehouses in Hostomel.
Russian forces also targeted infrastructure at the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk and said they had destroyed two cargo vessels carrying weapons and military equipment.
Moscow also said its air defence systems had destroyed 670 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones and seven guided aerial bombs.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force said the country had come under a combined attack involving ballistic and cruise missiles, reporting that 110 aerial targets, including Kalibr cruise missiles and hostile drones, had been shot down or suppressed.
According to Ukrainian authorities, the attacks killed and injured a number of people and damaged residential buildings in Odesa, Kryvyi Rih and Zaporizhzhia.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also reported 237 combat engagements, with the heaviest fighting concentrated in the Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka sectors.
On the Russian side, Acting Governor of Belgorod Region Alexander Shuvaev said one civilian had been killed and 14 others injured in intensive Ukrainian attacks on the region.
Separately, a source in Russian security agencies told RIA Novosti that Ukrainian forces had moved military personnel, large quantities of ammunition and electronic warfare systems to the area surrounding the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, raising security concerns in the exclusion zone.