KYIV – A Russian drone attack on Sumy in northeastern Ukraine killed three relatives, among them a 13-year-old boy and his father, and left two other people injured, a regional official said Monday.
Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago, Russia has repeatedly targeted civilian areas with missiles and drones. According to United Nations figures, the war has killed more than 16,000 civilians, while U.S.-led diplomatic efforts have so far failed to bring the fighting to an end.
The strike in Sumy hit a residential home, killing a 36-year-old man, his 13-year-old son and a 73-year-old woman who was the mother of the man’s partner, said Oleh Hryhorov, head of the regional military administration. The man’s partner and his 10-year-old son were wounded, Hryhorov said.
Civilian casualties from Russian attacks have risen sharply in recent weeks, the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported, as Moscow’s troops continue to face difficulty building momentum on the battlefield.
In May, at least 274 civilians were killed and 1,763 others wounded across Ukraine, the mission said earlier this month, marking the highest monthly civilian casualty toll since April 2022. The U.N. said most of those casualties occurred in cities located far from the front lines.
Separately, a Russian drone strike overnight killed a woman and injured three others, including an 11-year-old boy, in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, regional chief Ivan Fedorov said.
Russia launched 88 long-range attack drones and one ballistic missile overnight, Ukraine’s air force said. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted or electronically jammed 79 of the drones, according to the statement.
Ukraine, for its part, sent a larger wave of drones toward Russia and Russian-controlled territories, the Russian Defense Ministry said, as Kyiv pressed on with its long-range campaign targeting oil facilities, military transport routes and infrastructure.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday its forces intercepted 301 Ukrainian drones during the night over multiple Russian regions, the illegally annexed Crimea peninsula, the Azov Sea and the Black Sea.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that 84 Ukrainian drones targeting the Russian capital were shot down.
He didn’t say whether the attack caused any damage, but all four Moscow airports temporarily halted flights in the wake of the attack.
Also, some residential buildings were evacuated in Russia’s Vladimir region east of Moscow and the Tula region south of the capital as a result of the attack, local authorities reported.
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