Russian strikes kill 12 in Ukraine as Kyiv marks 707 child fatalities

At least 12 people have been killed and dozens injured in Russian strikes across Ukraine, according to Ukrainian authorities, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commemorated the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression. The attacks occurred in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson regions, highlighting the continued kinetic pressure on Ukrainian infrastructure and civilian populations.

In the Donetsk region, the National Police of Ukraine reported that five people were killed and 11 injured in bomb and drone attacks on seven settlements, including Dobropillya, Druzhkivka, and Kramatorsk. The press service stated that 42 civilian objects were destroyed, including 16 residential buildings, with significant damage to medical institutions and evacuation vehicles.

Northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region suffered at least three deaths and 21 injuries from missile and drone attacks, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov. In the adjacent Sumy region, at least two people were killed and four injured in an attack on the village of Yampil, with injured women receiving hospital treatment.

Central Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region recorded one death and five injuries, with fires breaking out in the Slobozhanske and Petrykivska communities, including at a logistics company. In the southern Kherson region, one person was killed by shelling in the Komyshany settlement.

The casualties coincided with Zelenskyy’s commemoration of the war’s toll on children, citing at least 707 Ukrainian children killed since the conflict began in February 2022. Zelenskyy described the deaths as “the most painful episodes of the war” and vowed that the evil inflicted upon the innocent would be punished.

In Russian-occupied areas, Ukrainian drone attacks resulted in one death in Luhansk and multiple casualties in Crimea, including strikes on a commuter train and non-residential buildings in Simferopol. Meanwhile, Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed control of the village of Komsomolskoye in Zaporizhia, stating it had inflicted significant losses on Ukrainian forces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed national security concerns following Ukrainian drone strikes on infrastructure in St Petersburg, stating that Russia must strengthen its air defences. “We must improve it. Yes, we must strengthen it. And we will do so,” Putin said during a meeting with foreign journalists.