Russia strikes Kyiv, other cities hours after US sanctions passed
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Emergency workers remove loose debris after a nearby impact blew out the windows of an apartment building during Russian missile and drone strikes in Kyiv.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Russia launched missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, injuring over two dozen people shortly after the US Congress passed major sanctions against Moscow.
- The US House passed the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, seen by Ukraine's President Zelensky as a powerful tool to pressure Russia to end the war.
- Attacks damaged infrastructure in eight Ukrainian regions, including energy and residential buildings, while Ukraine increased strikes on Russian oil and logistics targets to weaken Moscow's war efforts.
AI generated
KYIV – Russia battered the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other cities in the country with missiles and drones overnight, injuring more than two dozen people, officials said on Sept 17, hours after the US Congress approved a major sanctions Bill targeting Moscow.
The US House of Representatives on Sept 16 passed the sweeping sanctions and tariff legislation, championed by the late senator Lindsey Graham, designed to tighten the economic squeeze on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
The Bill has now been sent to President Donald Trump to sign into law. It targets Russia’s energy and defence industries and its “shadow fleet” of tankers that evade existing sanctions, to deprive Moscow of funds to pay for its war with Ukraine.
It faced pushback because it also authorises Trump to impose stiff tariffs of up to 100 per cent on China, India and other countries to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and gas, as well as to extend sanctions on Iran.
China has “consistently opposed long-arm jurisdiction that lacks a basis in international law and has not been authorised by the UN Security Council”, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said when asked about the Bill at a news conference.
It is the most significant Ukraine-related legislation which Congress has passed since Trump returned to the White House and his fellow Republicans took control of both houses of Congress in January 2025.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the passage of the Bill, calling it, alongside existing measures, an “extremely powerful tool” that could help force Russia to end a war now entering its fifth year.
“It is symbolic that the US House of Representatives passed the Lindsey Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act on the night of yet another Russian attack on Ukraine with ballistic and other missiles and drones,” he said.
Moscow has escalated its air attacks in recent months on Ukraine, which runs critically low on US-designed interceptors needed to down ballistic missiles.
The overnight barrage included Oniks anti-ship cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, four cruise missiles and nearly 160 drones, Ukraine’s air force said on Sept 17.
It did not specify the number and whether any of the more deadly ballistic missiles were intercepted.
Zelensky said tougher sanctions were essential to force Russia to return to the negotiating table, after US-backed peace talks unravelled earlier in 2026.
“Sanctions must be strong so that all efforts for peace – including our joint diplomatic efforts with the United States, Europe and our other friends – can succeed,” he said.
Damage in eight regions
Zelensky said damage was recorded in eight regions across Ukraine, with Moscow hitting energy infrastructure in the Sumy and Odesa regions.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said Moscow had struck vessels used by the Ukrainian military.
In Kyiv, the wail of air raid alerts and boom of air defences sounded through the night.
Explosions were heard on the morning of Sept 17 as an attack with jet-powered drones continued.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 18 people, including two children, were wounded in the city.
Most of them were in a damaged 16-storey apartment building, officials said.
Damage was recorded in four city districts, including at warehouse facilities and a petrol station, now a frequent target of attacks.
The strike also temporarily disrupted water supply on the left bank of the Dnipro river.
Six people, including two children, were wounded in the Black Sea port of Odesa, where the attack damaged a 19-storey apartment building, residential buildings and other sites, officials said.
Three others were wounded in the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia where a missile strike hit industrial facilities, triggering fire at one of them, the authorities there said on Telegram.
Ukraine has also increased its attacks on Russia, targeting oil facilities and logistics infrastructure to try to undermine Moscow’s ability to wage war.
A Ukrainian drone attack damaged an oil refinery in the Russian city of Yaroslavl, causing a fire that was later doused, the region’s governor said on Sept 17. REUTERS