Russian missiles and drones kill dozens across Ukraine and in Black Sea shipping
Russia conducted some of its heaviest attacks in recent months on Ukrainian cities this week, combining ballistic missiles and drones to strike residential areas in Pryluky, Kramatorsk, and Zaporizhzhia, killing dozens of civilians including children. The violence extended beyond Ukraine when drone strikes sank a cargo ship in Bulgaria's Black Sea waters, killing all 12 Syrian crew members. While Ukrainian and Bulgarian officials attributed responsibility to Russia, Moscow denied involvement in the maritime incident.
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Russia launched sustained bombardment across Ukraine using ballistic missiles and drones against multiple cities. The deadliest strike targeted a five-storey apartment building in Pryluky, Chernihiv Oblast, with a North Korean-made KN-23 missile, killing 20 residents including five children and wounding numerous others. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as one of Russia's most vile actions of the war. Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi reported that casualties from that single day totalled at least 28 dead nationwide.
Attacks persisted throughout the week. A Russian strike on two city buses in the front-line city of Kramatorsk killed at least 30 people and wounded 18, leading Donetsk governor Vadym Filashkin to accuse Moscow of deliberately targeting civilians. Subsequently, guided aerial bombs struck a residential building in Zaporizhzhia, killing at least 20 people, including three children, with rescue operations continuing into the evening.
The conflict's impact spread to the wider Black Sea region when drones struck two merchant ships in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, sinking one vessel and killing all 12 Syrian crew members aboard; the second ship's crew survived. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev stated that the cargo and trajectory of the ships indicated Russian involvement, a claim Moscow's embassy in Sofia disputed. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned the attack as part of the broader deterioration of Black Sea security resulting from Russia's war.
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