Russian forces have initiated assaults in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, resulting in the deaths of at least six individuals, as per regional authorities, following the conclusion of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. Ukrainian officials disclosed that Russia deployed over 200 drones overnight, dashing hopes for an extension of the three-day ceasefire that ended on Monday.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian forces had targeted gas installations in Russia’s central Orenburg region, located more than 1,500 kilometers away from the border. In a tragic incident, a drone strike on an apartment complex in Zelenskyy’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih resulted in the loss of two lives and injuries to four people, including the nine-month-old granddaughter of the deceased couple, as reported by regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha and military administration head Oleksandr Vilkul on Telegram. The infant suffered the loss of a leg.
Zelenskyy condemned the attack as “cynical and devoid of all military logic,” emphasizing that Russia’s aggression against Ukrainians continued unabated following the partial ceasefire, urging for unwavering pressure against such actions.
In a separate incident northeast of Kryvyi Rih, an aerial bombing claimed four lives and left three individuals injured, according to Hanzha. The Ukrainian military’s General Staff reported 170 combat engagements within the past 24 hours along the 1,250-kilometer front, with intense fighting near critical Ukrainian defense points in Kostiantynivka and Pokrovsk in the eastern region, where Russian forces conducted multiple combat operations.
The ceasefire, linked to the anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, was part of a U.S.-led peace initiative under former President Donald Trump, aiming to end over four years of conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Despite hopes for an extension, the situation escalated with both sides accusing each other of violating the ceasefire through drone and artillery attacks.
Zelenskyy revealed that Kyiv was collaborating with European allies to develop defense technologies against ballistic missiles, with talks involving 13 countries and NATO representatives. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha expressed Kyiv’s proposal for extending the truce, which was met by Moscow’s escalation through drone attacks on civilian infrastructure.
In the aftermath, damage was reported to energy facilities, residential buildings, a kindergarten, and a civilian locomotive, with incidents of drone interceptions across various regions. The mayor of Kyiv confirmed debris from a downed drone causing a fire in a residential building.
Several regions, including Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, and Chernihiv, experienced damage, and two individuals were injured in Dnipro and Kherson. Russian drone strikes also impacted energy infrastructure in the Mykolaiv region, leading to power outages.
The conflict between Ukraine and Russia has persisted since Moscow’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with ongoing skirmishes reported despite the ceasefire.