Russia Strikes Ukraine Before Ceasefire: At Least 26 Dead, Dozens Injured

At least 26 people have been killed and more than 80 injured in a wave of Russian drone and missile strikes across Ukraine, officials say, hours before a planned ceasefire was due to begin. Ukrainian authorities said attacks on Tuesday hit several areas, including Kramatorsk in the east, Zaporizhzhia in the south-east and Chernihiv in the north.

In Zaporizhzhia, at least 12 people were killed and more than a dozen injured, according to regional governor Ivan Fedorov.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least five people were killed in Kramatorsk, a key city in the Donetsk region still under Kyiv’s control. He later added that four more people died in a separate strike on the city of Dnipro.

Overnight, attacks on gas facilities in the Poltava and Kharkiv regions killed five people, including three employees and two rescue workers, according to Serhiy Koretskyi, chief executive of the state energy company Naftogaz. “We have sustained significant damage and production losses. This was a combined strike involving UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] and ballistic missiles,” Koretskyi said. He added that the attack disrupted gas supplies to nearly 3,500 customers.

Zelenskyy accused Russia of acting in bad faith by launching strikes after announcing a pause in fighting. “Russia could cease fire at any moment, and this would stop the war and our responses. Peace is needed, and real steps are needed to achieve it. Ukraine will act in kind,” he said on X.

Ukraine has said it will begin observing a ceasefire from the end of Tuesday, without specifying an end date, and will respond to Russian actions accordingly. A day earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a separate ceasefire for Friday and Saturday to mark victory celebrations linked to World War Two.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 11 ballistic missiles and 164 drones between Monday evening and Tuesday. It said one missile and 149 drones were intercepted or neutralised, but eight missiles and 14 drones struck 14 locations.

Ballistic missile attacks remain particularly difficult to counter, with Ukraine repeatedly calling on Western allies for more advanced air defence systems.

Russian officials also reported casualties on their side of the border. Authorities in the Chuvashia Republic said two people were killed and at least 32 injured in a drone attack, with a state of emergency declared.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces were reported to have struck an oil refinery in the town of Kirishi in the Leningrad region, causing a fire. Regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said there were no casualties and that the blaze had been largely contained.

The refinery is among Russia’s largest, processing millions of tonnes of oil annually.

Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence systems had destroyed 289 Ukrainian drones overnight. The latest exchanges underline the fragility of ceasefire efforts, with both sides continuing military operations even as pauses in fighting are announced.

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