Russia launched a sweeping wave of missile and drone attacks across Ukraine overnight, killing at least 17 people and wounding dozens more in what Moscow described as retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on Russian civilian infrastructure. The attacks targeted multiple cities simultaneously, underscoring the continued intensity of the war now in its fourth year.
In Odessa, a major port city on Ukraine's Black Sea coast, at least eight people were killed and 16 wounded as Russian forces struck in several successive waves using both missiles and drones. Infrastructure and residential buildings sustained significant damage. The previous evening, a Russian drone had already struck an apartment block in the city, killing one man and injuring six others. In Kyiv, the capital, at least two people died — including a 12-year-old child and a 35-year-old woman — and 18 were injured. In Dnipro, Ukraine's fourth-largest city located in the country's industrial heartland, two more people were killed and 27 injured, with five reported to be in critical condition. Residential areas were set ablaze.
Ukraine also struck back. A drone attack on Tuapse, a key Russian oil-export port on the Black Sea coast of the Krasnodar region, triggered a large fire at oil facilities belonging to Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company. Ukrainian special forces confirmed that loading terminals and refinery infrastructure were hit. Separately, a Ukrainian strike targeted an oil storage depot on the Crimean peninsula, currently occupied by Russia. Russian regional authorities reported two deaths from drone strikes in the Krasnodar area — including a 14-year-old girl — and damage to dozens of homes, schools, and a music school. Russia's defence ministry responded to Europe's announced expansion of drone production for Ukraine by publishing the addresses of European defence manufacturers and warning they could become targets.
Why this matters: the scale of the overnight strikes reflects an escalating pattern of mutual long-range attacks on both civilian and energy infrastructure. The attacks came days after a ceasefire declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin for the Orthodox Easter holiday, which Ukrainian and Western officials say was violated some 2,000 times. At a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Berlin, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius reaffirmed continued support for Kyiv, with Pistorius warning that rising oil prices were replenishing the financial resources Russia uses to fund its war effort. Ukraine's emergency services, meanwhile, face a grim additional challenge: France 24 has reported that rescue workers responding to strike scenes are themselves being targeted, creating urgent demand for armoured vehicles to protect first responders.