Russian forces launched a massive coordinated attack against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure from Friday night to Saturday morning, April 25, utilizing a total of 666 aerial weapons, including ballistic missiles and over 600 drones.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that the primary direction of the strike was Dnipro, where a four-story residential building was partially destroyed and several enterprises were set ablaze.
Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration, confirmed that 18 people were injured in the city, including a 9-year-old boy.
Mayor Borys Filatov warned that several individuals might still be trapped under the rubble as search and rescue operations continue.
Later, Hanzha reported that in Dnipro, the bodies of two victims were recovered from the rubble of a building damaged during a nighttime attack; five more people may still be trapped under the debris.
In Kharkiv, drone strikes targeted the Nemyshlianskyi, Kyivskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi districts. The assault injured a 54-year-old man and an 18-month-old boy, who suffered an acute stress reaction.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov noted that the strikes destroyed a public transport stop and damaged a gas pipeline and a private residence.
According to the Air Force, air defenses successfully intercepted 610 targets, including 26 Kh-101 cruise missiles, four Kalibr missiles, and 580 drones of various types. Despite these efforts, 13 missiles and 36 drones struck 23 locations across the country, including the Cherkasy, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv regions.
In Bila Tserkva, a strike caused a large fire and heavy smoke, prompting authorities to advise residents to seal their windows.
In Odesa, the strikes resulted in the destruction of three single-story residential buildings, a farm building (which subsequently caught fire), and seven vehicles. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) said rescue workers managed to extinguish the fire. According to preliminary reports, two people were injured.
The death toll from Russia’s massive coordinated aerial assault has risen to at least four people, with more than 30 others wounded across the country, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Telegram.
In Dnipro, the primary target of the attack, 11 people remain hospitalized as rescue crews search for survivors under the debris of a residential building. The strike caused casualties in the Chernihiv, Odesa, and Kharkiv regions.
“The Russians’ tactics remain unchanged: a significant amount of ballistics targeting ordinary urban infrastructure,” Zelensky stated, noting that housing, energy facilities, and enterprises were damaged in the raid.
President Zelensky utilized the aftermath of the strike to call for the immediate implementation of air defense agreements reached during recent meetings in Cyprus. He specifically urged partners to expedite contributions to the PURL program and stressed the need for the 21st EU sanctions package.
Zelensky warned that delays in previous sanctions, such as the 20th package, allowed the Kremlin time to adapt its “murderous war machine” to international pressure.
Later, Hanzha reported that the number of casualties following the enemy strike on Dnipro has risen to 46, including five children.
This escalation follows a Friday attack on Odesa, where a drone and missile attack killed a 75-year-old married couple and injured 15 others.
With six settlements in the Mykolaiv region currently without power due to damaged transmission lines and casualties mounting in central and eastern Ukraine, regional authorities remain on high alert as emergency crews continue to assess the full extent of the damage.