Nine people have died and at least 28 are injured following a wave of Russian drone attacks across Ukraine. The deadly strikes happened after a three-day ceasefire, brokered by the United States, came to an end late on Monday. Ukrainian officials reported that 14 regions of the country were targeted throughout Tuesday.
The central Dnipropetrovsk region suffered the most devastation. Eight people lost their lives there, and 11 others were hurt. The eastern Donetsk region also reported one casualty. On Wednesday morning, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that over 100 Russian drones were flying over Ukraine. He warned that further waves of attacks could be expected throughout the day. Russian officials, meanwhile, reported that Ukrainian drones struck a gas processing plant and two other industrial sites in three separate Russian regions overnight. No injuries were reported in these incidents.
This surge in attacks follows a brief period of quiet. Both Russia and Ukraine accused each other of breaking the recent ceasefire, mainly along their extensive frontline. However, major aerial assaults were not reported during the truce. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. In an update posted on Telegram, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Oleksandr Hanzha, detailed that over 30 Russian attacks struck three districts. He specified that two people died in Kryvyi Rih, President Zelensky's hometown. Six more deaths occurred in the Synelnykove district, southeast of the regional capital, Dnipro. Mr. Hanzha added that more than two dozen houses sustained damage.
In the northeastern Kharkiv region, five people were injured and several homes were damaged by Russian drone strikes. Attacks were also reported in the southern regions of Odesa, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine's central Poltava region also experienced drone strikes. Writing on Telegram on Wednesday morning, President Zelensky announced that 14 Ukrainian regions faced attacks on Tuesday. He accused Russia of deliberately targeting Ukraine's railway infrastructure and civilian buildings. Ukraine's air force reported on Wednesday that Russia launched 139 drones in the past 24 hours. They managed to shoot down or intercept 111 of these. However, 20 drones caused direct hits in 13 different locations.
The Russian defence ministry stated that it intercepted 286 Ukrainian drones over 14 Russian regions and Crimea since Tuesday evening. Governor Igor Babushkin of the southern Astrakhan region noted that falling drone debris caused a fire at a gas processing plant in the region's capital. He assured that there was no threat of air pollution. Local authorities in the southern Krasnodar region and the city of Yaroslavl also reported damage to two industrial facilities from Ukrainian overnight attacks.
These events highlight the ongoing volatility of the conflict. The failure to maintain a longer ceasefire indicates deep-seated mistrust between the two nations. For Ukraine, the repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure pose a significant humanitarian and economic challenge. For Russia, the reported Ukrainian strikes on its industrial facilities suggest a continued effort to disrupt its war capabilities. The international community remains focused on the diplomatic efforts to achieve a lasting peace.