KYIV — Russian drone and missile attacks overnight and into Tuesday killed at least 22 people and injured more than 80 across Ukraine, officials said, hours before Kyiv planned to implement a ceasefire and days before Moscow said it would pause operations for Victory Day.
Ukrainian authorities reported that powerful glide bombs struck the eastern city of Kramatorsk, the southern city of Zaporizhzhia and the northern city of Chernihiv on Tuesday afternoon, killing at least 17 civilians and wounding 45. Separate strikes overnight killed five people and wounded 39, according to official tallies.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sharply criticized the Kremlin, accusing it of “utter cynicism” for carrying out strikes even as Russia announced a short unilateral ceasefire to coincide with its Victory Day observance. Zelenskyy said Ukraine would commence its own ceasefire at the end of Tuesday and would respond in kind to any Russian actions from that point, without specifying when the Ukrainian pause would end. He added that Russia could stop fighting at any moment, underscoring his plea that “peace is needed, and real steps are needed to achieve it. Ukraine will act in kind.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it would observe a unilateral cessation of hostilities on Friday and Saturday but warned it would retaliate if Ukraine attempted to disrupt Victory Day events, which Russia marks annually on May 9.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the announced pauses and “looks forward to their successful implementation,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The U.N. chief reiterated his call for “a full, immediate, unconditional and lasting ceasefire, leading to a just, comprehensive, and sustainable peace,” in line with the U.N. Charter and international law.
Analysts note the pattern: Moscow has repeatedly proclaimed short, unilateral ceasefires tied to holidays, most recently around Orthodox Easter. Those pauses have produced little trust or lasting effect since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, and international efforts to halt the fighting have so far failed to yield a permanent truce.
On the battlefield, Kyiv reported that Russian forces launched 11 Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 164 strike drones overnight, including a jet-powered Shahed variant. Ukrainian air defenses said they intercepted 149 drones and one missile, while two ballistic missiles failed to reach their targets. Some strikes nonetheless penetrated defenses and caused the casualties described.
Russia continued to target Ukraine’s energy and industrial infrastructure. State energy company Naftogaz said natural gas facilities in the central Poltava and northeastern Kharkiv regions were struck; Naftogaz reports its facilities have been hit 107 times so far this year. Zelenskyy described the Poltava attack as “especially vile,” saying a second missile struck the same site while emergency crews were already at work. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said Russia’s main targets include energy installations, oil and gas infrastructure, railways and industrial sites, while noting residential areas, businesses and transport networks have also been damaged.
Ukraine has continued long-range strikes aimed at degrading Russia’s war-sustaining infrastructure. Kyiv said it used F-5 Flamingo cruise missiles against targets more than 1,500 kilometers (about 900 miles) away, including a military-industrial plant in Cheboksary that supplied navigation components for the Russian navy and other sectors; local authorities said three people were wounded in that attack. Ukrainian drones reportedly struck the Kirishi oil refinery in the Leningrad region near St. Petersburg, igniting a blaze in an industrial area. Regional officials said 29 Ukrainian drones were shot down during that operation and reported no casualties.
Moscow’s Defense Ministry said Russian forces destroyed 289 Ukrainian drones overnight in 18 regions, including over occupied Crimea and the Azov Sea.
Zelenskyy, who was in Bahrain on Tuesday for talks with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, proposed a bilateral partnership on drone defense, offering to share Ukrainian air-defense experience amid rising tensions in the Gulf. He noted Ukraine has already been helping Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan with drone expertise and air-defense know-how, drawing parallels between Iranian-made Shahed attacks used in the region and the drones Russia often employs against Ukraine.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov reported that Kyiv doubled its midrange strikes on Russia in April compared with March and quadrupled them versus February, focusing on warehouses, command posts, air defenses and supply lines up to about 100 miles (160 kilometers) behind the front. He also said Ukrainian ground robots completed 10,281 resupply and evacuation missions in April, an average of nearly 343 per day. Those figures and battlefield claims could not be independently verified.
As both sides reported strikes and air-defense successes, international concerns grow over the human toll and the fragility of any temporary pauses. Officials and diplomats continue to press for measures that could lead to a more lasting cessation of hostilities, but deep mistrust between Moscow and Kyiv remains a major obstacle to durable progress.