Russian drone strike kills two, injures 17 in Odesa; Ukraine says residential tower hit

Kyiv, Ukraine: A Russian drone attack on Odesa overnight has killed two civilians and wounded at least 17 others, including three children, according to Ukrainian officials. The strike hit a residential high-rise in the southern port city, damaging several floors and trapping residents.

Oleh Kiper, the regional governor, confirmed that the two deceased were a married couple. Ukrainian emergency services responded to the incident, rescuing multiple residents trapped under rubble.

There was no immediate response from Moscow regarding the strike. However, Russia's Defence Ministry claimed that over 40 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted over occupied Crimea and western Russian territory overnight.

Drone warfare has become a defining feature of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, now in its fourth year. Both nations are engaged in rapidly advancing drone technologies, with long-range and short-range models deployed in strategic and frontline scenarios.

Ukraine has used domestically built and modified commercial drones for both surveillance and deep strikes inside Russian territory. Earlier this month, Ukraine reportedly damaged nearly a third of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet in a drone raid.

According to a recent report by the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, short-range drone attacks have killed at least 395 civilians and injured over 2,600 between February 2022 and April 2025. Nearly 90% of those incidents were attributed to Russian forces.

The broader toll of the war continues to rise, with the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights estimating that more than 13,300 civilians have been killed and over 34,700 injured since the invasion began in February 2022.
(With AFP inputs)