Russian Drone and Missile Strikes Kill at Least Eight in Ukraine's Dnipro and Other Cities

Russian forces conducted one of the largest aerial attacks in recent days on Ukraine, firing hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Saturday, April 25, 2026. The strikes targeted eight regions, with the central-eastern city of Dnipro bearing the brunt, where local authorities reported eight people killed and dozens wounded.

Ukraine's air force stated that 619 drones and 47 missiles were launched, with air defenses downing or suppressing 610 of the drones. The barrage lasted up to 20 hours in some areas, causing fires and destroying homes, apartment buildings, kindergartens, a medical clinic, and other structures in Dnipro.

Workers searched rubble for additional bodies on Saturday morning, recovering four from a destroyed house. A separate strike in the same Dnipro residential area on Saturday afternoon killed one more person.

Damage Across Regions Sources provided varying casualty figures: one report stated at least seven killed overnight, including five in Dnipro, while another cited five deaths and 30 injuries total. In Dnipro alone, 46 people were injured, including five children, with injuries including shrapnel wounds, fractures, and burns.

Two police officers were among the wounded in a follow-up strike that targeted emergency responders. Other regions hit included Odesa and Kharkiv, where at least three people were injured, and residential buildings and cars were destroyed. In the northern Chernihiv region, two people died in Nizhyn, and a one-year-old boy was wounded in Kharkiv.

Donetsk saw one injury each in Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, with damage to six homes, five high-rises, a post office, and a church. Ukraine's president noted that most targets were civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, energy facilities, and enterprises.

Ukraine conducted long-range drone strikes into Russian territory, killing one woman and injuring a man in Russia's Belgorod region. Drone fragments from the attacks fell into neighboring Romania, damaging a house and an electric pole. Romania's foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador in protest, stating the incidents endangered regional security and violated international law.

3 million Russian troops killed or wounded since the war began, including 1,230 in the past day. International think-tanks estimate Russian casualties surpass Ukraine's at a roughly 2-to-1 ratio.

The strikes occurred amid new European Union sanctions on Russia's energy, banking, and trade sectors, approved this week after delays. The EU's foreign policy chief called for another sanctions package on Friday. Ukrainian officials urged expedited action, stating pauses allowed Russia to adapt.

A day earlier, Russian strikes in Odesa killed an elderly married couple and damaged residential buildings and a foreign ship. Ukraine's air force reported repelling most of the drones in the latest assault, which marked a significant escalation after several days of relative calm.