Russia Unleashes 100 Murder Drones: Child Among Dead in Sumy, Strikes Hit Kharkiv, Kramatorsk

Russian forces launched a large-scale drone attack on Ukrainian civilians overnight from 10:00 p.m. on Monday, June 23, until the morning of Tuesday, June 24, using 97 Shahed so-called kamikaze drones and various decoy drones.

According to Ukraine’s Air Force, the drones were launched from several directions. Ukrainian air defenses - including aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare teams, unmanned systems, and mobile fire groups - were actively engaged in repelling the attack.

By 8:00 a.m., air defenses had neutralized 78 Russian drones:

• 63 were shot down by weapons fire

• 15 were suppressed by electronic warfare

Russian drone strikes were recorded in at least six locations across Ukraine.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported that about seven Shahed drones targeted the city. One combat drone crashed without detonating. The rest struck three locations: two in the Nemyshlyanskyi residential district and one at a civilian enterprise in Saltivskiy.

At least three people were injured.

Russian combat drones hit residential areas in the Sumy region, killing three people - an eight-year-old boy, a woman, and a man. The attack sparked large-scale fires that destroyed about 15 buildings across six private households. Six other people were injured.

The State Emergency Service (DSNS) reported that the fires were contained, and search-and-rescue operations continue.

In Kramatorsk (Donetsk Region) at around 2:42 a.m., six Geran-2 strike drones targeted industrial areas. No casualties were reported, but damage assessments are ongoing.

Other Topics of Interest

Ukraine’s Drone Forces Claim 100,000 Russian Casualties in One Year

Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) on Thursday said they have eliminated more than 100,000 Russian troops and struck 350,000 military targets since the branch was established a year ago. USF Commander Brovdi said the losses are nearly three times the number of troops Russia deployed in its failed attempt to seize Kyiv in 2022. The USF now aims to double that figure over the next year.

As of 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning, the Air Force reported that additional groups of Shahed drones were launched from the north, triggering air raid alerts in the Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kyiv regions.

On Monday evening, a Russian ballistic missile strike hit a school in the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district of Odesa, killing at least two school employees and wounding around a dozen others. Rescue efforts are still underway.

Earlier that day, a large-scale Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv killed nine people, including an 11-year-old girl and her mother, collapsed part of a residential high-rise, and left dozens more injured.