Russian drone strike on Sumy kills three of same Ukrainian family

Kyiv,UPDATED: Jun 22, 2026 15:28 IST

A Russian drone strike on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed three members of the same family and injured two others, a regional official said on Monday. The dead included a 13-year-old boy, his father and a 73-year-old woman.

The attack came as Russia continued strikes on civilian areas in Ukraine, while Ukraine also launched drones towards Russia and territories under its control. US-led peace efforts have failed to stop the fighting, and the United Nations says more than 16,000 civilians have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago.

According to Oleh Hryhorov, head of the regional military administration, the strike on Sumy hit a home and killed a 36-year-old man, his 13-year-old son and a 73-year-old woman who was the mother of the man's partner. The man's partner and his 10-year-old son were injured, he said.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has said civilian casualties from Russian attacks have risen sharply in recent weeks as Moscow's forces struggle to gain momentum on the battlefield. Earlier this month, it said at least 274 civilians were killed and 1,763 injured in Ukraine in May, the highest monthly total since April 2022. It said most of the casualties were in cities far from the front line.

In another overnight attack, a Russian drone strike on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed a woman and injured three people, including an 11-year-old boy, regional head Ivan Fedorov said. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 88 long-range attack drones and one ballistic missile overnight, and that air defences shot down or disabled 79 of the drones.

Ukraine, meanwhile, sent a large number of drones towards Russia and areas under its control as part of its long-range campaign targeting oil facilities, military transport and infrastructure, according to the Russian Defence Ministry. The ministry said on Monday that 301 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight over several Russian regions, the illegally annexed Crimea peninsula, the Azov Sea and the Black Sea. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 84 drones targeting the capital were shot down. He did not say if there was any damage, but all four Moscow airports briefly halted flights. Local authorities also reported evacuations from some residential buildings in the Vladimir region east of Moscow and the Tula region south of the capital.

The latest strikes underlined the continuing intensity of the war, with deadly attacks reported in Ukrainian cities and large-scale drone interceptions reported by Russia during the same night.

With PTI Inputs

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