Overview
- Ukrainian officials said Russia sent more than 200 attack drones after the three-day ceasefire expired Tuesday, with the air force reporting 192 of 216 downed or neutralized.
- The overnight wave hit energy sites, apartment blocks, a kindergarten and rail infrastructure across several regions, and early tallies noted civilian deaths and injuries in Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv and other areas.
- Following Tuesday’s barrage, Ukraine carried out retaliatory strikes that included drone attacks deep inside Russia’s Orenburg region and hits on military targets in occupied Donetsk, according to Kyiv’s leadership and military units.
- Russia’s defense ministry said its air defenses destroyed 27 Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod, Voronezh and Rostov regions after the ceasefire, as both sides traded claims of violations throughout the 72-hour pause tied to Victory Day.
- Kyiv said it sought to extend the pause, but leaders now press for stronger air defenses and tougher sanctions as large drone swarms strain interceptors and leave residents facing blackouts, damaged homes and, in places like Kryvyi Rih, fresh civilian casualties.