A Russian attack during the night of Tuesday and the early hours of Wednesday on the city of Odesa in southern Ukraine caused six deaths, regional authorities reported. “The enemy has attacked the city again,” Sergiy Lysak, head of the Odesa military administration, said via Telegram, adding that the strike hit residential buildings.
Lysak specified that “for the moment, it is known that three people died as a result of the enemy attack,” and he added that three other victims were hospitalized.
In addition, another nighttime strike using cluster munitions hit a residential area on the outskirts of Sumy in northern Ukraine, causing three more deaths and several injuries and damaging private homes, regional administration head Oleg Hrygorov and the city’s military administration chief Serhiy Kryvosheyenko reported.
Authorities warned that unexploded ordnance could remain in the streets near the impact site.
More than four years after the start of the Russian invasion, both sides carry out daily attacks, resulting in a growing number of civilian casualties.
According to the United Nations, June 2026 was the deadliest month for civilians in Ukraine since April 2022.
Later, the head of the Sumy Department of Motor Vehicles reported that seven people were injured in these incidents. Among the wounded is an 11-year-old child who suffered an acute stress reaction and received medical care at the scene. A 30-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman remain in serious condition. Two of the injured are hospitalized and two others are receiving outpatient treatment.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported on Wednesday that its military carried out strikes against the southern ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk in the Odesa region, as well as in the Dnipro-Bug area. In a statement posted on the social network MAX, the ministry said the piers targeted were “used to supply the Ukrainian armed forces.”
According to the official statement, Russian forces struck fuel storage tanks, drone production and assembly workshops, and four Ukrainian military resupply vessels. The Russian military frequently bombs Ukrainian port infrastructure, particularly in the Odesa region.
Russian air defenses shot down 36 Ukrainian drones that were heading toward Moscow during the day. Moscow’s mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, said on social media that emergency service specialists are working at the sites where debris from the destroyed drones fell.
In recent weeks, Kyiv has intensified attacks on Moscow and its surroundings; authorities reported that more than 350 hostile drones were shot down the previous day.
From Moscow, President Vladimir Putin pledged victory in Ukraine during his first campaign event ahead of the September legislative elections, where the ruling United Russia party will seek to maintain its parliamentary majority. “Our strength lies in that we always overcome all difficulties and all fears. And that makes us stronger. That is precisely why, of course, we always move forward and will continue to do so,” Putin said at the “All for Victory” forum organized by the Front Platform.
The president said Russian troops are making advances on the front and that the national economy continues to develop despite Western restrictions. According to Putin, citizens have donated nearly 70 billion rubles (about USD 913 million) to the military through the Front Platform. “And therefore, without doubt, victory awaits us,” he asserted.
The remarks were made in the presence of military personnel and their families, a day after Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) approved the party lists of eleven groups for the September 20 vote. The CEC must still verify the documentation of all candidates, so the final number of authorized contenders has not yet been determined.
Amid public discontent over the war, economic decline, internet restrictions and a fuel crisis, polls show United Russia’s support at historically low levels. The September elections will be the first legislative vote since the invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
A total of 122 strike drones, of which 101 were shot down, and two Russian missiles targeted Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force reported in its daily bulletin.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it conducted strikes on the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Dnipro, which it described as “used to supply the Ukrainian armed forces.”
It also said it attacked fuel depots, drone factories and military resupply ships.
Ukrainian forces, meanwhile, have stepped up recent attacks on cargo vessels in the Sea of Azov, an important maritime route for exporting Russian agricultural products and supplying the annexed Crimea.
(With reporting from AFP and EFE)