Deadly Strikes Escalate as Russia and Ukraine Trade Attacks
Nine people were killed and 23 injured in Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia, local officials said. Eight were killed in the western Belgorod region in the past 24 hours, and a woman died overnight in the southern Astrakhan region.
Ukraine also said two people were killed by Russian drones in the north‑eastern Sumy region, and another two in the eastern Donetsk region. The strikes come a night after Ukraine claimed to have launched its largest‑scale attack of the year, killing at least seven people in Russia and injuring 39.
Russian attacks on Ukraine also resulted in at least seven deaths and over 39 injuries on Saturday night. The latest Ukrainian strikes damaged a building and a car in Belgorod’s village of Koloskovo; a child was hospitalized and two others received medical aid. A woman in Astrakhan fell to her death when a drone hit her home, while an 83‑year‑old died in a Moscow‑region drone strike.
The Russian side hit a Wildberries warehouse; since July, Ukraine has targeted the company’s logistics hubs, reportedly disabling seven of the ten largest sites. A separate winter‑night attack damaged a civilian vessel and injured four in Odesa, with over 1,550 drones, 1,560 guided bombs and 62 missiles launched across 13 Ukrainian regions last week. Both sides accuse each other of targeting civilians.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said Russian missile strikes damaged its infrastructure 13 times in the past week, including attacks on a FirePoint facility and a drone‑component factory in Kyiv. Russian attacks on Russian positions, including the Black Sea port city of Odesa, have also damaged civilian infrastructure and destroyed a famous book market in Kyiv’s Pochayna district. The war’s escalation continues to raise concerns about civilian safety and the targeting of commercial assets alike.
