Russia launched hundreds of drone strikes at Ukraine overnight, hitting a kindergarten and killing at least one as both sides’ fragile three-day ceasefire came to a sudden end, Ukrainian officials announced Tuesday.
More than 200 drones were launched at Ukraine just hours after a White House-brokered ceasefire expired, despite hopes it would be extended.
“We proposed Moscow to extend the partial ceasefire beyond May 11. Instead, this night Russia launched over 200 drones against Ukraine, targeting civilian infrastructure, including a kindergarten, injuring at least six and killing at least one person,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X on Tuesday.
Of the 216 drones launched by Russia, about 192 were downed or neutralized, according to Ukraine’s air force.
The warring sides’ truce deal, agreed by both countries for May 9 to 11 to commemorate the anniversary of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany, was part of a US-led push for peace amid more than four years of conflict.
President Trump said Friday he hoped the truce would be extended.
“Russia itself chose to end the partial silence that had lasted for several days,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X on Tuesday.
Ukraine responded to the Russian strikes with attacks of its own, targeting the Russian city of Orenburg about 745 miles from Ukraine’s border, reported the Kyiv Independent.
Another Ukraine attack was aimed at the Orsknefteorgsintez, one of Russia’s largest regional oil refineries and responsible for 6.6 million tons of crude oil production annually, the outlet reported.
