Ukrainian drones now a main concern for Russians, poll seen by BBC showspublished at 13:09 BST

13:09 BST

Sergey Goryashko
BBC Russian in Moscow

Image source, Shutterstock

The Kremlin is facing growing public anxiety as Ukrainian strikes increasingly reach infrastructure far from the front line.

Rising prices and internet disruptions continue to frustrate Russians. But according to recent polling, Ukrainian drone attacks on cities hundreds of kilometres from the border have become the public's biggest concern.

Support for the ruling United Russia party has fallen to 33% — its lowest level since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The decline comes ahead of September's State Duma elections.

Polls also point to a broader shift in public sentiment. By the summer of 2026, independent surveys were showing rising levels of anxiety, a measure that many sociologists consider a more reliable indicator of public mood than presidential approval ratings.

A July poll by the EU-based independent research group ExtremeScan, which was shown to the BBC, found that more than half of respondents do not support what the Kremlin calls its "special military operation."

The last time pollsters recorded a majority opposition was in August 2024, during Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region.

The death toll following a Russian strike in Pavlohrad has risen to two, according to a regional official.

Seven people were also injured in the strike, with warehouses in the eastern Ukrainian city still on fire, according to local official Oleksandr Hanzha.

It means the total number of people killed in attacks on Ukraine today has risen to at least 11.

Extensive damage to shops in Ukraine’s Sumy after attackpublished at 12:49 BST

12:49 BST

By Richard Irvine-Brown and Peter Mwai

BBC Verify has geolocated images of the aftermath of last night's attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, which injured 12 people.

The pictures, shared by the head of Sumy region Oleh Hryhorov, show extensive damage to several supermarkets and high-rise buildings, which appear to be residential, along Metalurhiv Street in the north of the city.

One shop has partially collapsed and the next has had its entire facade ripped down to the brickwork. A second shop has multiple smashed windows and a large metal panel has caved in.

Image source, Sumy Regional State Administration

As we've been reporting, a number of areas in Ukraine have reported deaths in recent hours following Russian strikes.

Here's what we've heard so far:

In the port of Odesa, local officials said one person died after an attack on a ship carrying Ukrainian wheat in the Black Sea.

In the Kharkiv region, officials reported two deaths after a Russian strike on a train station, and three deaths in a separate attack in the city of Balakliya.

In Pavlohrad, one death was reported while warehouses belonging to logistics companies remain on fire.

Also in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the local governor said three people were killed in a separate attack in Kamianske.

In Russia's Bryansk region, Acting Governor Yegor Kovalchuk says a drone struck a moving car, killing the driver. Another man also reportedly died in a drone attack in the town of Novozybkov, while five others were taken to hospital.

Separately, Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin says four people, including a child, have been injured after radio jamming caused a drone to crash into a tree, where it detonated.

Shrapnel caused a fire in a nearby flat, Nikitin says, but adds there is "no threat to life".

Elsewhere, in Russia's Kursk region, a man has been killed in a Ukrainian drone strike, according to the local governor.

Six people were injured in the attack, Alexander Khinshtein says, three of them seriously.

Five people have been injured in Luhansk following a Ukrainian strike, according to the Russian-installed governor.

Leonid Pasechnik says that the attack targeted a soft drinks warehouse and the wounded were taken to hospital.

For context: Moscow claims to have annexed the Luhansk region, after occupying parts of it since 2014, but this is not officially recognised.

Image source, State Emergency Service of Ukraine

Firefighters in Ukraine are continuing to put out fires started by a Russian attack on 5 August, the country’s emergency service says.

Workers are still tackling the fires in Bucha and Brovary in the Kyiv region, while also checking the areas for explosive objects, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.

Image source, State Emergency Service Of Ukraine

Officials in Russia and Ukraine have been reporting deaths and injuries following attacks.

It comes as President Zelensky said Ukraine has hit two Russian oil refineries.

Here's the latest this morning:

In Russia

• Russia's Yaroslavl region has counted four injured in an attack on the Slavneft-Yanos oil refinery after huge clouds of smoke were seen over the city
• The refinery is one of the biggest in Russia, processing about 15 million tonnes of crude oil a year, according to its operator
• Zelensky said the refinery had been struck while the region's governor said the drones had been intercepted but falling debris damaged storage tanks

In Ukraine

• Meanwhile, in the port of Odesa, one person has died and three others injured in a Russian attack on a ship carrying Ukrainian wheat, according to the local governor
• Ukraine has also been sharing details of Russian attacks - in Kharkiv, officials reported two deaths following a Russian strike on a train station, while a separate attack on Balakliya killed three and injured several more, the country's state emergency service said

Image source, Reuters

Ukraine has been struggling to intercept Russian attacks recently because of depleted air defences.

Zelensky said earlier this week that supplies from partners had "significantly decreased", with the number of air defence missiles supplied dropping threefold compared to 2025.

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday that he had spoken to Zelensky and was discussing with allies how they can continue to get Ukraine the air defences they "urgently need".

For years, Ukraine has relied on US supplies of Patriot interceptor missiles to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles, but the US has used many of its stockpiles during the war with Iran.

• You can read more about Ukraine's depleted air defences in this piece by our Ukraine correspondent in Kyiv

An overnight Russian attack on Sumy, a city in north-eastern Ukraine, has injured 12 people, according to officials.

Ukraine's State Emergency Service says the strikes hit civilian infrastructure and blocks of flats.

Sergiy Kryvosheenko, head of the Sumy City Military Administration, says a 54-year-old man is in a critical condition, while two women aged 71 and 51 are in a moderate condition. All three are being treated in hospital.

Six others are receiving outpatient treatment, while three received medical assistance at the scene, he adds.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has met his acting Ukrainian counterpart, Yevhenii Khmara, during a trip to Ukraine.

In a social media post, Khmara says they’re thankful for the UK’s "steadfast support for Ukraine".

Streeting writes that he’s returning from Kyiv "with a clear understanding of Ukraine’s requirements ahead of winter".

"We will work with allies to mobilise support. We will be with Ukraine until they win," he adds.

In Odesa, no-one is safe from Russia's new Black Sea strikespublished at 09:57 BST

09:57 BST

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent in Odesa

We have just reported that one person was killed and three were injured in a Russian attack on a ship loaded with Ukrainian wheat in Odesa, according to the regional governor.

It comes as Russia steps up efforts to strangle Ukraine's commercial links to the outside world, launching attacks all along the country's Black Sea coastline.

From damaged port infrastructure to ships with bridges blackened and containers still smouldering, the evidence is everywhere.

According to Ukraine's port administration, July saw 57 Russian attacks on civilian vessels, 22 of them at sea, and a further 67 hits on port infrastructure.

While there have been Russian attacks on international vessels before, they've never been so numerous or so deadly.

• You can read more about Russia's Black Sea attacks here

More news now from Yaroslavl, Russia, where huge clouds of black smoke have been seen over the city.

Four people have been injured by shrapnel, according to regional governor Mikhail Evraev.

In a social media post, he also writes that nobody was killed in the attack, but falling debris damaged an oil refinery's storage tanks. Emergency services are working to put out the fire, he says.

The governor adds that there’s no longer an immediate threat to the area.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine struck the Slavneft-Yanos oil refinery in the city. Evraev said all the drones were intercepted, but debris caused three houses to catch fire and damaged vehicles.

One person was killed and three were injured in a Russian attack on a ship loaded with Ukrainian wheat in Odesa, the regional governor says.

In a post on Telegram, he writes that the ship, sailing under the Guinea-Bissau flag, suffered hull damage and that a fire broke out on board.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defence Ministry says it struck two dry cargo ships delivering weapons in the Black Sea last night, near the port of Odesa.

It's unclear whether the two incidents are connected at this stage.

The Black Sea is a vital transport route for Ukraine and has been a key target for Russia throughout the conflict, with attacks occurring all along the coastline.

According to Ukraine's port administration, July saw 57 Russian attacks on civilian vessels, 22 of them at sea, and a further 67 hits on port infrastructure.

A Russian strike on a train station in Ukraine's Kharkiv region has killed two people and injured eight, the regional governor has said.

Oleh Syniehubov says in a post on Telegram that some of the injured were in serious condition.

Earlier, we reported that three people were killed in separate Russian strikes on Kharkiv's Balakliya.

Numerous schools, government offices and homes in Ukraine have been hit by Russia in recent weeks.

Ukraine has also increased its attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure, including power facilities.

Both sides have denied deliberately targeting civilians.

Image source, State Emergency Service Of Ukraine

It started when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbour on 24 February 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his goal was to "demilitarise and denazify" Ukraine - he has repeatedly painted the country as a Nazi state. Our explainer looks at the distortions and untruths that Russia has previously spread about Nazis in Ukraine.

The Russian leader has long questioned Ukraine's right to exist, claiming that "modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia" after the communist revolution in 1917.

In February 2022, troops moved in quickly, accompanied by dozens of missile strikes on cities across Ukraine.

Within a few weeks, Russian forces were in control of large areas of eastern, northern and southern Ukraine - and had advanced to the suburbs of the capital Kyiv.

However, they met strong Ukrainian resistance - and by November 2022 the picture had changed dramatically. Ukraine had regained ground in the north and Russia failed to take Kyiv.

Since then, progress on both sides has slowed. In recent months, Russia has been gradually expanding the amount of territory controls - particularly in the east - but gains have been minimal.

Verified material shows several smoke plumes at Yaroslavl refinerypublished at 09:01 BST

09:01 BST

By Paul Brown, Peter Mwai and Fridon Kiria

We have verified multiple videos and images shared on social media showing huge smoke plumes rising from one of Russia’s biggest oil refineries at Yaroslavl, some 280km (170 miles) north-east of the capital, Moscow.

Ukrainian media reported the facility was set ablaze following a drone attack early on Thursday.

In one of the verified images on social media there appear to be at least four fires at the site, which is about 700km (430 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

Image source, Telegram

Most of the clips appear to have been captured by people living in the city of Yaroslavl itself, several miles away from the refinery.

Image source, Telegram

Image source, EPA

Ukraine has struck two oil refineries in Russia, President Volodymyr Zelensky says.

In a social media post, he writes that Ukraine's Defence Forces struck the Slavneft-Yanos refinery in Yaroslavl and the Bashneft-Novoil refinery in Bashkortostan.

Earlier, we reported that black smoke was rising from the direction of the Yaroslavl oil refinery after Ukrainian drone attacks. Yaroslavl Governor Mikhail Evraev says the Ukrainian drones attacking the region have been destroyed, but falling debris has caused three houses to catch fire.

Zelensky says they also struck two military patrol boats and vessels from Russia's shadow fleet in the Black Sea.

We can now bring you more from Yaroslavl Governor Mikhail Evraev.

He says that while all the Ukrainian drones attacking the region have been destroyed, falling debris has caused three houses to catch fire and has shattered windows in several apartment buildings. He also describes damage to vehicles.

Information on casualties is being "clarified", he says.

Image source, Social media

Image source, State Emergency Service of Ukraine

As Ukraine launched more than 600 drones at Russia overnight, attacks continued the other way.

In the Ukrainian city of Balakliya, the state emergency service says three were killed as Russian drones attacked a residential neighbourhood.

It adds that fires broke out in homes as a result of the attacks.