A Russian drone attack on a market in southern Ukraine has killed five people and injured 21, including a 14-year-old girl, according to the prosecutor general's office.
The attack occurred at 09:50 (06.50 GMT) in the town of Nikopol, which is situated across the Dnipro river from territory occupied by Russia since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Images released by the regional prosecutor depict destroyed market kiosks scattered with debris, highlighting the severity of the attack.
This incident follows a tragic day earlier in which at least 15 civilians were killed in drone and missile strikes across Ukraine on Friday.
Additionally, a drone and missile attack by Ukraine on the Russian city of Taganrog resulted in at least one fatality and four severe injuries, according to Russian reports.
Nikopol has been under frequent attack, with nearly half of its population of 100,000 having fled due to the persistent threat. The attack on Saturday morning struck a busy area, leading to a high number of casualties.
Subsequent strikes on the same location injured two more individuals. Authorities are treating the attacks as potential war crimes.
Russia launched nearly 300 drones against Ukraine overnight, causing further casualties in cities like Kharkiv and Sumy. In response, Moscow claimed to have shot down 85 Ukrainian drones.
In Taganrog, a logistics company was set ablaze, and a Ukrainian defense ministry official attributed the casualties there to Russian air defense operations. Several Ukrainian drone attacks targeted key Russian military facilities in retaliation.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has initiated diplomatic overtures, including a proposed truce for Easter, but with little response from Moscow. Attacks on civilian zones have escalated, and frontline evaluations suggest that the conditions are currently more favorable for Ukraine than in the past months.
