A Russian drone attack on the Ukraine-Moldova border killed two people and injured three others at the Starokozache crossing overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, as a wave of strikes caused deaths and damage across multiple cities on both sides of the conflict.
The crossing, about 500km south of Kyiv, was shut following the attack. Images from the scene showed several burnt-out cars amid scattered debris. According to UNITED24 Media, emergency crews evacuated a further 16 people by bus to a safe distance in the aftermath of the strike.
Odesa regional head Oleh Kiper confirmed the toll at the crossing. Moldova’s foreign ministry said a Moldovan driver was among those injured.
Zelensky calls for action after Russian drone attack near Ukraine Moldova border
Zelensky renewed calls for international support following the strike, saying ‘the aggression must be stopped here and now before it spreads any further’. He has previously urged allies to do more to defend Ukrainian and neighbouring territory from Russian aerial attacks.
Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tofan said 17 drones struck Moldovan territory in August alone, more than during the whole of last year. ‘Those who ignore or downplay these threats (and refuse to name the aggressor) are denying reality,’ he wrote on social media. ‘Russia started this war. Russia alone bears responsibility.’
Moldova has increasingly found itself drawn into the conflict as Russian drones ranging across southern Ukraine frequently pass close to or over its territory.
Kyiv, Sumy and Novorossiysk among sites hit in overnight exchanges
In Kyiv, a woman was killed and 14 people injured, including two children, after a Russian drone struck a nine-storey residential building, officials said.
The scale of the overnight Russian drone attack extended well beyond the capital and the border crossing. Reuters reported that two people were killed and 20 injured when Russian drones struck a shopping centre in the northern city of Sumy. In the western city of Khmelnytskyi, drones hit a market, setting off a blaze and triggering repeated explosions, with four rescue workers hurt.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces had shot down 596 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Ukraine’s own strikes were also widespread. In the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, four people including a child were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack, Russian officials said. Governor Veniamin Kondratiev described it as a ‘massive overnight enemy drone attack’. As well as the four deaths, 29 people were injured, and damage was reported to residential buildings, a church and a preschool.
In the Arctic city of Novy Urengoy, nearly 3,000km from Ukraine, a drone struck an industrial facility, regional governor Dmitry Artyukhov said. He added that falling wreckage had triggered a fire but no-one had been injured.
Strikes follow Putin-Trump call on ceasefire efforts
The overnight exchanges came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump spoke by phone about efforts to end the war. The Trump administration has been pressing for direct talks between Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office has said such talks could take place this month. The Kremlin, however, has said it is too early to discuss a date or venue.
That call followed meetings between US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff and Putin in Moscow, before the pair travelled to Kyiv for discussions with Zelensky. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
With both sides stepping up long-range strikes despite the diplomatic activity, Zelensky’s office said the Starokozache crossing would remain shut until further notice.
