Overnight strikes in Russia-Ukraine conflict leave 7 dead, dozens injured
Russia and Ukraine launched fresh overnight attacks against each other, killing at least seven civilians and wounding dozens more in a conflict that continues to exact a heavy toll on ordinary people.
In Russia’s southern border region of Belgorod, Ukrainian drone strikes killed five people and injured 24 others, including a four-year-old boy, according to the regional administration. The attacks damaged 29 apartment blocks, five private houses, administrative buildings, and unidentified commercial facilities, the authorities said in a statement.
On the Ukrainian side, Russian missiles hit a high-rise residential building in Kharkiv’s Saltivskyi district, killing two residents and injuring 13, as reported by the regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov. In the Black Sea port city of Odesa, “dozens of missiles and drones” struck the city and its surroundings, leaving eight people injured, said Oleh Kiper, head of the regional military administration.
The overnight exchanges come amid an intensifying air campaign, with Moscow regularly launching large-scale missile barrages on Ukrainian cities. Ukrainian officials have warned that the country is critically short of interceptor missiles for its U.S.-provided Patriot systems—the only air defence capability that can intercept ballistic missiles. This shortage has reportedly made it easier for Russian forces to press home attacks.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly appealed to allies, particularly the United States, to supply more Patriot systems, noting that global inventories have been strained by conflicts in the Middle East. He has also proposed producing Patriot ammunition in Ukraine or, alternatively, receiving clearance from Elon Musk to use his Starlink satellite network to target Russian missile launchers inside Russian territory.
Kyiv, meanwhile, has pursued its own long-range drone strikes against Russian energy infrastructure, the country’s largest online retailer Wildberries, and other targets deep inside Russia. These attacks have contributed to fuel supply disruptions within Russia, with the Defence Ministry in Moscow acknowledging the drone threat by claiming it had shot down 153 Ukrainian drones overnight, including over Crimea and the Black and Azov Seas.
Russia’s Defence Ministry further claimed that its latest strikes successfully destroyed drone warehouses in the Kharkiv region, as well as fuel depots and military supply stores at Odesa’s port. These assertions could not be independently verified.
Since the conflict began, both sides have repeatedly accused each other of targeting civilians, with residential areas, hospitals, and schools frequently reported as hit. The United Nations has documented thousands of civilian casualties, though the true scale is likely higher. Attempts at negotiated settlement have failed, and the war shows no sign of abating.
