KYIV: At least six people have been killed in Russia’s overnight attacks on Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, regional officials confirmed late Tuesday, marking a sharp escalation after the expiry of a short US-mediated ceasefire.
Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces launched more than 200 drones across the country overnight, effectively ending hopes that the three-day ceasefire, which concluded on Monday, would be extended.
The truce had been linked to commemorations of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War and was seen as part of a broader US-led diplomatic effort to reduce hostilities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian strikes continued to target civilian infrastructure despite the brief pause in large-scale attacks.
He stated that Kyiv had proposed extending the ceasefire, but Moscow instead intensified its aerial campaign, striking with hundreds of drones.
According to Reuters, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, local officials reported multiple fatalities and injuries following overnight bombardments.
Further south, a drone attack on an apartment building in Kryvyi Rih—Zelensky’s hometown—killed two people and injured four others, including a nine-month-old infant.
Regional authorities said the child suffered severe injuries, including the loss of a leg, while emergency services continued rescue operations at the site.
The attack in Kryvyi Rih was strongly condemned by Zelensky, who described it as “cynical and devoid of all military logic” in a statement shared on social media.
Northeast of the city, another aerial bomb strike reportedly killed four more individuals and left three injured, according to regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha.
Zelensky also claimed that Ukrainian forces had conducted strikes on gas infrastructure in Russia’s central Orenburg region, located more than 1,500 kilometres from Ukraine’s borders, signalling the continued long-range exchange of attacks between the two sides.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, drone interceptions were reported across several regions, although significant damage was still recorded. Energy facilities, residential buildings, a kindergarten, and a civilian locomotive were among the damaged sites, according to Ukrainian officials.
In Kyiv, debris from a downed drone struck the roof of a 16-storey residential building in the Obolon district, triggering a fire, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Emergency crews were deployed to extinguish the blaze and assess structural damage.
Further west, damage was reported in the Zhytomyr region and in Chernihiv near the Russian border. In the central Cherkasy region, two people were injured, while additional strikes in the cities of Dnipro and Kherson in the south also left casualties.
Energy infrastructure in the Mykolaiv region was also hit, resulting in widespread blackouts, according to regional governor Vitaliy Kim.
Ukrainian officials said the overnight assault underscored Moscow’s continued reliance on large-scale drone warfare, despite diplomatic efforts to establish temporary pauses in fighting.
Talks between Kyiv and its allies, including NATO representatives and 13 partner countries, are ongoing as Ukraine seeks to strengthen its air defence capabilities, particularly against ballistic missile threats.
