Russian, Ukrainian Drone Barrages Kill Civilians as Black Sea Risks Mount
MOSCOW- Russian and Ukrainian drone and air attacks killed at least five civilians in each country on Tuesday, authorities said, as both sides intensified long-range strikes and renewed fighting around the Black Sea heightened concerns over civilian shipping and global food security.
Officials in Russia said Ukrainian drones struck multiple regions overnight, including areas around Moscow, while Ukrainian authorities reported deadly Russian attacks using drones and glide bombs across several regions, including Odesa, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Donetsk.
In the Moscow region, Governor Andrei Vorobyov said a Ukrainian drone attack killed five people and injured 10 others. He said the heaviest damage occurred in the Chekhov municipal district, where several fires broke out in the Novoselki industrial zone following the strikes.
Russian authorities also revised the death toll from Monday’s drone strike on the Black Sea resort of Arkhipo-Osipovka to seven, including four children. Krasnodar regional officials said 58 people were injured, with 21 remaining in hospital.
Video circulating online appeared to show a drone striking a crowded beach, although The Associated Press could not independently verify the footage. Ukrainian authorities have not publicly commented on the attack.
Ukraine has significantly expanded its long-range drone capabilities since Russia launched its full-scale invasion more than four years ago. Kyiv has increasingly targeted military-linked infrastructure deep inside Russian territory, including fuel facilities, logistics hubs and warehouses, arguing such sites support Russia’s war effort.
Russian officials said air defenses intercepted 320 Ukrainian drones overnight, underscoring the scale of the latest cross-border assault.
Among the targets were facilities linked to Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer. The company said a warehouse in the Leningrad region caught fire, while officials in the neighboring Tver region reported partial damage to another Wildberries warehouse after drone debris struck a wall.
Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, said Ukrainian drones had targeted 15 Wildberries warehouses during the past 18 days, with fires breaking out at 13 of them. Ukrainian officials have said the company supplies goods that can be used by the Russian military.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces continued overnight attacks on Ukrainian ports, ships and port infrastructure used by Kyiv’s military. It said strikes hit facilities in Chornomorsk, damaging a port terminal and an automobile components plant where military vehicles were allegedly repaired and ammunition and fuel stored.
The ministry also said a bulk carrier carrying military cargo was damaged in the southern port of Mykolaiv, another vessel unloading military cargo was struck in Pivdennyi, and two additional bulk carriers transporting military equipment to Ukrainian ports were damaged south of Odesa. The claims could not be independently verified.
The renewed attacks on Black Sea shipping prompted Turkiye to repeat its call for both Russia and Ukraine to protect freedom of navigation. Turkey’s Foreign Ministry warned that expanding hostilities at sea threatened civilian shipping and could disrupt exports of grain, fertilizers and other essential commodities, with wider implications for global food security.
In Ukraine, regional officials reported multiple civilian casualties from Russian strikes. Authorities in Mykolaiv said attacks, including on the city’s port, killed an 89-year-old woman and wounded seven others ranging in age from two to 83.
In the neighboring Odesa region, Governor Oleh Kiper said a strike on civilian infrastructure destroyed a private home and injured two people.
Further north, Sumy regional governor Oleh Hryhorov said six Russian glide bombs struck the region, killing two girls aged five and 10 along with an elderly woman.
Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said Russian forces attacked the city of Kharkiv and 18 surrounding settlements during the previous 24 hours, killing one person and injuring seven others, including an eight-year-old child. Local officials in Balakliia reported extensive damage to residential and commercial buildings after separate strikes.
In eastern Ukraine, authorities said two 250-kilogram glide bombs hit Kramatorsk on Tuesday morning, injuring 22 people. The city lies at the northern end of Ukraine’s so-called Fortress Belt, where Western analysts say Russian forces are attempting to regain momentum after years of attritional fighting.
Vadym Filashkin, head of the Donetsk regional military administration, urged civilians living near the front line to evacuate, saying authorities would provide transportation, housing and other assistance.
