Russia-Ukraine Drone Strikes Kill Civilians on Both Sides — SkimNews
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- Russian drones struck the Starokozache border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova, killing two people and injuring three, including a Moldovan driver; the crossing was shut after the overnight attack and images show burnt-out cars amid the debris.
- Kyiv took a direct hit when a Russian drone struck a nine-storey residential building, killing one woman and injuring 14 people, including two children, according to Ukrainian officials.
- Ukrainian drone strikes hit Russia overnight, killing four people including a child in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk — where 29 were injured and damage was reported to residential buildings, a church, and a preschool — and striking an industrial facility in the Arctic city of Novy Urengoy, roughly 3,000km from Ukraine.
- Moldova has become an unintended casualty of the conflict, with Prime Minister Vasile Tofan confirming 17 drones struck Moldovan territory in August alone — more than during the whole of last year.
- Russia's defence ministry said its forces shot down 596 Ukrainian drones overnight, while Zelensky renewed calls for international support, saying "the aggression must be stopped here and now before it spreads any further."
- The strikes came a day after Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump spoke by phone about ending the war; US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff had met Putin in Moscow on Saturday before traveling to Kyiv for meetings with Zelensky on Sunday, with Kyiv saying direct talks could take place this month but the Kremlin calling it too early to set a date.
Why it matters: The drone war is spreading geographically in both directions — Ukrainian drones reached Novy Urengoy 3,000km inside Russia, while non-combatant Moldova absorbed 17 strikes in August alone — even as a Trump-envoy shuttle between Moscow and Kyiv produced no letup in civilian-targeting strikes. Both sides appear willing to inflict deep, visible costs as leverage for any future negotiating table, and Moldova's growing exposure raises the stakes for a NATO-adjacent state.
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