Russia Launches Ballistic Missiles, Drones Across Ukraine as Civilian Death Toll Rises

Russia launched a fresh wave of ballistic missiles and drones across Ukraine early Sunday, striking Kyiv and several other regions in attacks that killed at least six people and injured dozens, according to Ukrainian officials. The renewed bombardment came after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned that Russia was likely to intensify its assaults over the weekend.

Ukraine’s air force reported that Russian forces fired seven ballistic missiles and 136 drones overnight, targeting multiple areas across the country. In Kyiv, missile strikes triggered a fire on the seventh and eighth floors of a residential apartment building in the city center. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said three people were injured, while emergency service images showed damaged vehicles engulfed in flames.

One of the deadliest attacks occurred in the northern city of Chernihiv, where a Russian drone struck a supermarket, killing two people, including a 9-year-old child, and injuring 25 others. Zelenskiy condemned the strike, calling it “deliberate Russian terror” with no military justification.

In Kharkiv, a daytime Russian drone attack killed one person and left 16 others requiring medical treatment, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov. Meanwhile, a Russian glide bomb attack on the southern city of Zaporizhzhia killed one person and wounded six, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said.

In Sloviansk, located in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, state energy company Naftogaz confirmed that two employees were killed while assisting residents affected by an earlier Russian strike.

Russia also reported casualties in territories under its control. In Horlivka, a Russian-occupied city in the Donetsk region, Moscow-installed officials said a Ukrainian drone strike killed four civilians. Authorities later reported another drone attack that struck an emergency vehicle, injuring three medics and one civilian.

The latest escalation follows accusations from Russian-installed officials that Ukraine targeted civilians in another drone attack a day earlier. Both Moscow and Kyiv deny intentionally attacking civilians. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, the conflict has claimed thousands of civilian lives, with the majority of casualties reported in Ukraine.