Russian military strikes targeting cities in eastern and southeastern Ukraine on Tuesday resulted in four deaths and left multiple people injured, according to officials and prosecutors.
In the Donetsk region — the central focus of Ukraine’s front lines — prosecutors reported that two bomb strikes hit the city of Sloviansk, killing three people and wounding five others.
Sloviansk is considered part of Ukraine’s so-called “fortress belt,” a heavily fortified zone that military planners see as critical to slowing Russia’s gradual advance through the Donetsk region.
Further south in the city of Zaporizhzhia, national police reported that a large wave of drones struck the area, killing one man inside his vehicle and injuring seven additional people.
Photos circulating online showed fire burning inside a building and on a rooftop, with at least one exterior wall reduced to rubble.
Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov confirmed five separate strikes hit Zaporizhzhia. He said fires erupted in a residential building and a shopping center, and an educational facility also sustained damage in the assault.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm the details of the attacks. Both Russia and Ukraine maintain that they do not intentionally target civilians in the conflict, which began when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
