Russian missiles struck schools, hospitals, and kindergartens in central Ukraine on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people and injuring dozens more amid rising regional tensions.
The attacks occurred as President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the Netherlands to meet NATO allies during the defense summit. He is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday to discuss new sanctions against Russia and arms support, according to a senior Ukrainian source.
Emergency responders in the Dnipropetrovsk region—now under threat from Russian advances—released images of bloodied civilians receiving aid.
Zelensky condemned the attacks, stating, “This is not a fight where it’s hard to choose a side. Standing with Ukraine means defending life.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga called the strikes a “rejection of peace” by Russia, which has dismissed ceasefire proposals from both the U.S. and Ukraine. He urged allies to intensify pressure on Moscow.
According to Ukrainian police, 11 people were killed in Dnipro and two more in nearby Samar. Over 100 were wounded, and significant damage was reported to administrative buildings, shops, schools, and a children’s hospital.
Earlier drone attacks in the northeastern Sumy region, bordering Russia, killed three, including a five-year-old boy pulled from rubble by local officials. Oleg Grygorov, head of Sumy’s military administration, lamented the loss of multiple families on the same street.
On Russia’s western border region of Belgorod, a man died in a Ukrainian drone strike while his spouse survived. Moscow also reported a drone attack on a residential building that wounded two people, including a pregnant woman.
Russia currently occupies about 20% of Ukraine’s territory and claims annexation of four Ukrainian regions since the 2022 invasion, along with Crimea, captured in 2014.
Kyiv accuses Moscow of deliberately undermining peace talks to prolong the war and expand its control.
