An 89-year-old woman was killed and a 65-year-old man wounded in separate Russian drone attacks in Ukraine’s Kherson region Monday, as Russian forces launched a wave of nearly 100 drones overnight across the country in attacks that wounded civilians, knocked out power and triggered air raid alerts from Zaporizhzhia to Chernihiv.
The woman, a resident of the village of Osokorivka, was struck and killed by a Russian first-person-view (FPV) drone at approximately 11:20 a.m. local time. About two hours later, a man was attacked by a drone while walking down a street in the Dniprovskyi district of Kherson city, sustaining shrapnel wounds to the head and limbs, a concussion and a closed head injury. He was transported to a hospital in moderate condition. Russian forces also shelled residential neighborhoods in the city’s Korabelny district around 1 a.m., damaging private homes and destroying a vehicle. Witnesses reported several fires breaking out. The attacks follow a Russian strike Saturday in the Kherson region that killed three people, including a trolleybus driver.
In the Sumy region, a Russian drone struck a police vehicle in the city of Bilopillia around 1 p.m. as the officer inside was on duty. The officer sustained minor injuries and received immediate medical attention. The vehicle was destroyed. Police investigators documented the strike as a war crime. Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces have been deliberately targeting law enforcement officers working in frontline communities.
Ukraine’s Air Force said it neutralized 87 of 98 strike unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) launched beginning at 12:10 a.m. Monday, April 13.
The drones – including Shahed, Gerbera, Italmas and other types – were fired from multiple directions inside Russia and from occupied Crimea. Aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare units and mobile fire groups all took part in repelling the attack. Nine drones struck their targets at nine locations, with debris from downed UAVs falling at a tenth. As of Monday morning, the attack was ongoing, with enemy drones still in Ukrainian airspace.
Russian forces launched 456 attacks on 28 settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region over 24 hours, deploying 431 UAVs – mostly first-person-view (FPV) drones – against towns including Orikhiv, Huliaipole, Stepnohirsk and Pavlivka, among others, the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, Ivan Fedorov, reported. Russian forces also carried out three airstrikes, two multiple launch rocket system strikes and 20 artillery strikes across the region. One woman was wounded in the Zaporizhzhia district, and 10 reports of damage to infrastructure, residential buildings and vehicles were received. A separate drone strike on Novooleksandrivka wounded 10 police officers and one civilian.
In the Kharkiv region, five settlements came under Russian attack on Sunday, wounding at least four people, regional administration head Oleh Syniehubov said on Facebook. In Zolochiv, a 63-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man were injured. In Bohodukhiv, a 58-year-old man suffered an acute stress reaction. A 19-year-old man was also wounded in Oleksandrivka after an unidentified object exploded. Russian forces used a mix of Geran-2, Molniya and FPV drones in the attacks, damaging private homes, outbuildings, a store and a vehicle across multiple districts. Since the announcement of an “Easter ceasefire,” Ukrainian officials reported 10,721 Russian violations.
Elsewhere, more than 12,000 customers lost power in the Chernihiv region after a Russian strike damaged an energy facility there, regional energy operator Chernihivoblenergo said. Emergency repair crews were standing by pending security clearance to access the site, the company said in a statement on Telegram.
Russian forces also shelled the city of Zolochiv in the Kharkiv region on Sunday, wounding two people, Kharkiv regional police reported on Telegram.