Russian and Ukrainian forces carried out cross-border drone attacks overnight as Russia launched three days of nationwide nuclear drills, escalating tensions in the long-running conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces fired more than 500 drones and in excess of 20 ballistic and cruise missiles in the overnight barrage, striking multiple regions across Ukraine. He said the strikes wounded more than two dozen civilians, including three children.
Ukrainian officials reported four people killed and additional injuries in missile and drone strikes in the northern Chernihiv and Sumy regions. An overnight Russian airstrike damaged port infrastructure in Izmail; local authorities said there were no casualties or major destruction.
Drone attacks were also reported in Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia regions. In Kharkiv, two people were rescued and one person may still be trapped under rubble after a Russian drone hit the city, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
On the Russian side, Moscow authorities said four drones approaching the capital were intercepted. Regional officials also reported strikes in Kursk and Rostov. In Kursk, a woman died and two others were injured in an attack the previous evening. Ukrainian strikes reportedly hit Yaroslavl, where an industrial site linked to oil refining caught fire, according to the regional governor.
The intense exchanges come as diplomatic efforts to resolve the four-year conflict remain stalled.
Separately, on Tuesday Russia began a three-day exercise involving thousands of troops that Moscow described as training to prepare and, if necessary, use nuclear forces in the event of an aggression threat. The defense ministry said the drills would run from May 19 to 21. The exercises coincide with a planned visit by President Vladimir Putin to China and follow a period of intensified Ukrainian drone operations.
The situation remains fluid, with ongoing exchanges of strikes on both sides and heightened military posturing across the region.
Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko