A Russian drone strike on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad killed three civilians, a child and a 76-year-old woman, and wounded ten others, local officials said on Friday. The nighttime attack hit an apartment building and followed only hours after a different deadly Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv.
Serhii Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Administration, released the casualties on Telegram. The Ukrainian air force stated that the Russian forces had fired 103 Shahed drones and decoys into five Ukrainian provinces overnight. Although infrastructure was hit in Sumy and Kharkiv, no additional civilian casualties were reported there.
Thursday’s bombing of Kyiv, killing at least 12 people and wounding 87 others, was the most lethal raid on the capital since July. This prompted Donald Trump, former president of the US, to make an unprecedented public call to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin on Truth Social. “Not necessary, and very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! Let’s get the peace deal DONE,” Trump posted in frustration against increasing violence and delayed peace negotiations.
Trump’s representative, Steve Witkoff, will also see Putin in Moscow for their fourth encounter since February with the purpose of restarting stalled negotiations. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also be in Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican, although it is not certain if they will individually meet.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said Russia took advantage of Thursday’s missile assault to increase its attacks along the 1,000-kilometer front. He again claimed that Ukraine had accepted a US-initiated ceasefire a month ago but that Russia pursued its offensive, including a Palm Sunday massacre in Sumy and bombings in Odesa and Zaporizhzhia.
The escalating brutality has led Western leaders to charge Russia with dragging out war in order to grab more land, and Trump accuses Zelenskyy of not giving up Crimea as a barrier to peace.
