Attacks ‘getting worse’: Deadly Russian strikes hit Ukrainian cities
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- Russian forces launched overnight missile and drone strikes across Ukrainian cities, killing at least a dozen people and injuring more than 100, with widespread damage to homes and civilian buildings reported on the ground.
- IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi reported increased military activity near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, saying it further challenges efforts to maintain nuclear safety and security at the site.
- UNICEF confirmed at least three children were killed in Radushne and Kryvyi Rih, and at least seven children were injured in Lviv, Kherson region, and Kyiv region, calling it "more young lives devastated by war."
- UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the strikes and called for de-escalation and a ceasefire, with Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq declaring attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure "a clear violation of international humanitarian law."
- OCHA and UNHCR reported families in the Dnipro region, Lviv, and Kyiv lost loved ones or were left without homes, with UNHCR confirming residential buildings and other facilities in Lviv were damaged.
- UN agencies launched emergency response on the ground, including a UNHCR-led inter-agency convoy delivering 240 solar lamps to a frontline village in Dnipropetrovsk region, while UNICEF provided psychological first aid, case management, and cash assistance registration.
- The UN's 2025 annual report documents broader humanitarian work since the 2022 invasion, including keeping electricity and heating services running for 6.6 million people, strengthening water systems serving over 16 million, and surveying 1.6 million hectares of farmland for de-mining.
Why it matters: The overnight strikes killed at least three children alongside more than 100 injured, and the IAEA's public flagging of renewed military activity around Zaporizhzhia raises the escalation beyond conventional casualties into nuclear-safety territory. With the UN sustaining energy access for 6.6 million people and water systems for over 16 million, every strike on Ukrainian infrastructure has a cascading survival effect that international condemnation alone cannot offset.
