Russian drone and missile strikes across Ukraine killed at least seven people overnight, with five deaths reported in the city of Dnipro, according to Ukrainian local authorities. The attacks, described as the largest in several days, also targeted Odesa and Kharkiv, leaving at least 34 people injured.
The strikes lasted 'practically all night,' said Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional administration. Four bodies were recovered from the rubble of a destroyed house, with search operations continuing on Saturday morning. Fires broke out across Dnipro, damaging blocks of flats, businesses, and a private home.
Another person was killed in a separate Russian strike in the same residential area on Saturday afternoon, Hanzha reported. In Odesa and Kharkiv, drone attacks injured at least three people. Ukrainian authorities said they repelled most of the more than 600 Russian drones launched in the assault.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attacks on social media, stating: 'The Russians’ tactics have not changed: strike drones, cruise missiles and a significant amount of ballistics. Most of the targets are ordinary infrastructure in cities.' He noted damage to residential buildings, energy facilities, and enterprises.
In retaliation, Ukraine carried out long-distance drone strikes deep inside Russian territory. In the border region of Belgorod, a woman was killed and a man seriously injured by a drone strike. The overnight attacks followed a prisoner swap on Friday, in which Russia and Ukraine exchanged 193 service members, a condition of US-brokered negotiations that have made no progress on ending the invasion.
