Drone attacks killed civilians in Russia and Ukraine, a day after Zelenskyy renewed his Easter ceasefire offer.
A Ukrainian drone has killed three civilians in Russia’s Vladimir region, while a Russian drone hit a city bus in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, also killing three civilians, in tit-for-tat attacks.
Drones bombed a residential building in the Alexandrovsky district in the west of the Vladimir region, Governor Alexander Avdeev said on Tuesday.
A couple and their 12-year-old son were killed in the attack, while their five-year-old daughter was in hospital with burns, local officials said.
Meanwhile, a Russian drone hit a city bus in Dnipropetrovsk on Tuesday, killing at least three people and injuring 12 others, Ukrainian officials said.
Regional Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said the attack struck the centre of Nikopol, a city on the right bank of the Dnipro.
“This was not a random strike,” Hanzha said in a statement on Telegram.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the attack occurred in the morning, with rescue teams working at the scene.
“Together with medical personnel, they managed to free and rescue seven people,” he said.
The attacks come a day after Kyiv launched significant attacks on Russia’s Black Sea export facilities, in a conflict which in the past month has seen Ukraine step up attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure.
Also on Tuesday, in Russia’s Voronezh region, a man sustained burns after a downed drone crashed onto the roof of a warehouse, the Interfax news agency reported, quoting Governor Alexander Gusev. Four houses were damaged as a result, it said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force said its air defences shot down 77 of 111 drones launched by Russia overnight.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence also said 45 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight, including 19 over the northwestern Leningrad region.
On Monday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said he stood by a proposal made to Russia for a ceasefire contingent on Moscow halting all attacks on energy infrastructure.
“If Russia is ready to stop strikes on our energy infrastructure, we will respond in kind,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address, having first offered to observe a ceasefire for Easter last week, the holiday celebrated by Orthodox Christians on April 12 in Russia and Ukraine.
However, after an overnight attack on the Black Sea, Zelenskyy said Russia appeared unwilling to agree to an Easter ceasefire.
“We have repeatedly proposed to Russia a ceasefire at least for Easter, a special time of the year,” he said. “But for them, all times are the same. Nothing is sacred.”
Moscow had reacted to Zelenskyy’s proposal last week, saying it favoured an overall peace deal instead.
