Russian strikes killed at least 12 people across Ukraine overnight on Sunday, officials reported, as intense shelling and drone attacks continued even as Kyiv and Moscow completed their largest prisoner exchange since the full-scale invasion began.
Ukraine’s emergency services characterized the night as one of “terror,” with Russia unleashing a second consecutive night of massive aerial assaults, including targeting the capital, Kyiv. This wave of aggression occurred concurrently with a significant prisoner swap, which saw 1,000 captured soldiers and civilian prisoners repatriated by each side after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Among the fatalities from the latest Russian strikes were two children, aged eight and 12, and a 17-year-old, all killed in the northwestern Zhytomyr region, according to official reports.
“Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on social media, adding, “The silence of America, the silence of others around the world only encourages Putin. Sanctions will certainly help.”
Echoing this sentiment, the European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, called for “the strongest international pressure on Russia to stop this war.” She further lamented on social media, “Last night’s attacks again show Russia bent on more suffering and the annihilation of Ukraine. Devastating to see children among innocent victims harmed and killed.”
The renewed strikes followed a barraged launched overnight Friday to Saturday, which involved 14 ballistic missiles and 250 drones, resulting in 15 injuries, according to Ukrainian officials. On Sunday, Ukraine’s military claimed to have successfully intercepted a total of 45 Russian missiles and 266 attack drones overnight, while Russia reported bringing down 110 Ukrainian drones.
Casualties from the latest attacks include four reported dead in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, four in the Kyiv region, and one in Mykolaiv in the south. Emergency services also reported 16 injuries in the Kyiv region, including three children, stemming from the “massive night attack.”
“We saw the whole street was on fire,” Tetiana Iankovska, a 65-year-old retired woman from Makhalivka village just southwest of Kyiv, told AFP. Another retiree, Oleskandr (64), expressed profound skepticism regarding ceasefire talks, stating, “We don’t need talks, but weapons, a lot of weapons to stop them (the Russians). Because Russia understands only force, nothing else.”
*
Email *
Website
