At least 16 people lost their lives in a series of strikes over the weekend across Ukraine, Russian-occupied territories and within Russia, according to local authorities.
The violence coincided with the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, prompting renewed warnings about the risks posed by military activity near the site during Russia’s ongoing invasion.
In the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the number of fatalities from Russian drone and missile attacks rose to nine, regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said on Sunday.
In Sevastopol, located in Russian-occupied Crimea, Moscow-installed officials reported that one man was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike. Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, a move widely condemned internationally, and has since used it as a strategic base for its military operations.
In Ukraine’s Luhansk region, Leonid Pasechnik said three people were killed in an overnight Ukrainian drone attack on a village, following earlier reports of two deaths in the same region on Saturday. Russia has claimed full control of Luhansk, but Ukraine disputes that assertion.
Elsewhere, local officials in Russia’s Belgorod region said a woman was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike, highlighting the continued cross-border escalation.
Ukraine also reported striking an oil refinery in Yaroslavl, deep inside Russian territory. According to Ukraine’s General Staff, the attack caused fires at the facility, which processes around 15 million tons of oil annually and produces gasoline, diesel and jet fuel for the Russian military. Russia has not yet commented on the incident.
Kyiv has increasingly deployed domestically produced long-range drones capable of reaching targets up to 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) inside Russia. These have recently been used against oil infrastructure as Moscow seeks to expand exports after receiving a temporary sanctions waiver from the administration of Donald Trump. Ukrainian officials argue that the additional revenue could be used to fund further military attacks.
Marking the anniversary of the disaster, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned about the dangers posed by ongoing Russian strikes near nuclear facilities.
“Through its war, Russia is once again bringing the world to the brink of a man-made disaster — Russian-Iranian Shaheds regularly fly over the plant, and one of them struck the confinement last year,” he wrote on Facebook.
“The world must not allow this nuclear terrorism to continue, and the best way is to force Russia to stop its reckless attacks,” he said.
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, echoed those concerns during a visit to Kyiv. He said repairs to the plant’s damaged outer protective shell should begin immediately, noting that earlier damage has already compromised a key safety function. He warned that prolonged delays could increase risks to the original sarcophagus beneath the structure. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development estimates the repair costs will exceed 500 million euros ($586 million).
Ukrainian officials say a Russian drone struck the outer shell of the plant’s New Safe Confinement structure — a $2.1 billion arch-like enclosure completed in 2019 over Reactor No. 4 — in February 2025. Moscow has denied targeting the facility and has instead accused Kyiv of staging the attack.
