5 Killed as Ukraine, Russia Exchange Heavy Drone, Missile Strikes Amid Stalled Peace Talks
Five people have been killed in overnight aerial attacks as Ukraine and Russia traded massive drone and missile strikes, further dimming hopes for peace amid stalled negotiations.
Ukraine’s Dnipro region bore the brunt of Russian strikes, with three people killed and six injured in what officials described as a “massive combined attack.” Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia launched 235 drones and 27 missiles overnight, with 10 missiles and 25 drones striking targets in nine locations before air defences intercepted the rest.
Dnipro city saw a multi-storey building and a business hit, while a shopping centre outside the city caught fire. Additional strikes hit northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv, where six people—including four emergency workers—were injured in a “double tap” attack targeting rescuers.
“Russian military enterprises, logistics hubs, and airports must feel the consequences of this war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, vowing retaliation with long-range Ukrainian drone strikes.
On the Russian side, officials said two people were killed in Rostov region following a Ukrainian drone strike. Russia’s Defence Ministry reported intercepting 54 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions, including Bryansk, Rostov, and Penza.
A separate strike in Russia’s Stavropol region sparked a fire at an industrial facility, while a drone crash in Ingushetia left a woman and three children injured.
Meanwhile, Russia claimed it had seized the Ukrainian villages of Zelenyi Hai in Donetsk and Maliivka in Dnipro. Kyiv has not commented on the battlefield claims.
Zelensky stated that Ukrainian drone production this year would surpass earlier projections and emphasized ongoing defensive operations to repel Russian advances in the Sumy region.
As both sides escalate cross-border attacks, diplomatic prospects remain bleak. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused the West of sabotaging peace efforts by continuing to arm Ukraine.
“If the West truly wanted peace, it would stop supplying weapons to Kyiv,” she said via state-run TASS.
Russia’s military claimed its strikes targeted Ukrainian sites manufacturing missile components and explosives—though this could not be independently verified.
The surge in hostilities underscores growing reliance on drone warfare and the widening geographical scope of attacks, with civilians increasingly caught in the crossfire.
