Children Killed, Homes Destroyed as Russia Intensifies Attacks on Ukraine’s Northeast and South

Russian drone and artillery strikes overnight on June 24 left a deadly trail across several Ukrainian regions, killing at least ten civilians and injuring fourteen others in Sumy, Kherson, and Kharkiv oblasts. The attacks damaged dozens of homes and civilian infrastructure and triggered fires and emergency responses throughout the country.

In Sumy Oblast, a large-scale drone attack struck a village in the Verkhnia Syrovatka hromada shortly after midnight. According to the National Police and the State Emergency Service, three people were killed, including an eight-year-old boy whose body was recovered from the rubble of a destroyed house. A man and a woman from different families also died in the strike. Six others, including three children, were wounded and hospitalized. Nearly 30 homes and four cars sustained damage in the attack, which also caused a large fire. Emergency crews, police, and medics remain on site.

Sumy, located along Ukraine’s northeastern border with Russia, has seen an uptick in attacks amid renewed Russian efforts in the region. Since March, Russian forces have advanced into about 200 square kilometers of territory there, forcing over 200 settlements to evacuate. Ukrainian troops have reportedly been pushing back in recent weeks, trying to contain the offensive.

Further south, in Kherson Oblast, Russian drone and artillery strikes between June 23 and 24 killed four people and wounded five others. According to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin, the attacks hit 29 different settlements across the region, including Kherson city. Residential buildings, four private homes, a shop, and several vehicles were damaged. Kherson, which lies just north of Russian-occupied Crimea, remains under constant threat, having endured frequent shelling since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, Russian forces launched an overnight drone attack using Iranian-made Shahed drones. Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported that three civilians were injured when three of the seven launched drones struck the city. Civilian infrastructure was hit in both the Saltivka and Nemyshlianskyi districts, with damage reported to residential areas and a local enterprise. Emergency services responded swiftly to the affected zones.

Kharkiv, situated just over 20 kilometers from the Russian border, has increasingly become a target of intensified Russian aerial assaults. A similar drone strike on June 12 injured at least 15 people, including several children.