Russia and Ukraine trade drone attacks with 5 killed in each country

Russia and Ukraine traded accusations on Tuesday that each side’s attacks caused civilian deaths, with officials in the Moscow region saying five people were killed there while authorities in Ukraine said a similar number, including two children, died at various sites across the country. Russiahas relentlessly pounded civilian areas ofUkraine, even though Moscow insists its forces target only military facilities. Since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion more than four years ago, Ukraine has developed long-range drones that can strike deep inside Russia.

In the past year, its forces have battered oil facilities, major storage depots and other key infrastructure. More than 16,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the war began, the United Nations said last month in its most recent casualty report, with the vast majority occurring in areas under the Ukrainian government’s control. Casualties have risen steadily each year.

The UN children’s agency on Tuesday urged both countries to uphold international humanitarian law requiring the protection of children, citing recent deaths in Russia’s Belgorod and Krasnodar regions, as well as in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions. “Attacks that kill and injure children must stop,” Unicef said in a statement. Meanwhile, escalating attacks on shipping in the Black Sea by both sides has reawakened fears that global food security could be put at risk.

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Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately reply to an Associated Press request for comment. Drone attacks on civilians have surged since the war began, with 967 people killed, including 10 children, and nearly 7,000 people injured, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said Tuesday. Russian drone operators track and strike civilians going about daily activities, according to previous AP reporting. A UN commission concluded in October 2025 that such attacks amounted to crimes against humanity.

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