Russian Strikes Kill at Least Five in Ukraine, Hit Nuclear Plant

Russian forces launched 290 drones and six missiles overnight, killing at least five civilians and wounding 40 more across multiple regions, Ukraine’s Air Force reported. In Sumy, a 59-year-old man died and a train station was heavily damaged during nearly 24 hours of air raids.

Local officials said at least two civilians were killed in Kharkiv and two more in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk when houses and apartment buildings were hit.

The Moscow-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant was struck Saturday. Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy company reported that the explosion created a hole in the turbine hall wall of one unit but did not damage main equipment. A company official said the incident brings the site one step closer to an event that could affect areas far beyond Russia and Ukraine.

The plant has been under Russian control since early in the conflict, while Ukraine retains the city of Zaporizhzhia and the northern part of the region. Ukraine and Russia have repeatedly traded blame for strikes on the facility, which requires steady power to cool its six reactors.

Ukrainian officials said Kyiv fired back at the plant. A deputy prime minister stated that the civilian railway station in Sumy had become another target. The same official noted that Ukrainian intelligence indicates preparations for a new large-scale assault on Kyiv. The warning followed a drone incident that struck an apartment building inside Romania on Thursday night.