Entire Ukrainian family killed in Russian drone strike, officials say

An entire family – a married couple and their two young sons – have been killed in an overnight Russian drone attack in Ukraine’s north-eastern Sumy region, local officials have said.

Regional head Oleh Hryhorov said a residential building was hit in the village of Chernechchyna. The bodies of the two children, aged four and six, and their parents were later recovered from the wreckage.

Ukraine’s air force said its units shot down 46 out of 65 Russian drones across the country – but there were 19 direct hits in six locations.

Russia’s military has not commented. In a statement, it said 81 Ukrainian drones were destroyed overnight in five Russian regions. No casualties were reported.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In a post on Telegram on Tuesday morning, Hryhorov accused Russian forces of deliberately targeting a residential building in Chernechchyna.

He said the loss of an entire family was “a tragedy that we will never forget or forgive”.

Ukraine’s state emergencies service DSNS later said two residential buildings were partially destroyed in the village.

It also posted photos showing firefighters tackling blazes after the Russian strike.

In recent weeks, Russia has intensified its aerial assaults on Ukraine, regularly launching hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles.

Ukraine has long been urging its Western allies to provide it with enough advanced air defence weaponry to be able to cope with almost daily Russian strikes.

Kyiv has also been seeking Western missiles that could hit major Russian cities far from the front line, arguing that this would seriously weaken Russia’s military industry and force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.

Last week, US Vice-President JD Vance said publicly that Washington was considering a request by Ukraine for long-range Tomahawk missiles, which – if delivered – would put Moscow and other major Russian cities within reach for Ukraine’s military.

On Tuesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced “we have agreed with Ukraine that a total of €2bn (£1.7bn) will be spent on drones now.

“This allows Ukraine to scale up and to use its full capacity. And of course, it will also allow the European Union to benefit from this technology,” she added.

US President Donald Trump and Europe have been leading efforts to end the war – but Putin has repeatedly rejected calls for a ceasefire.

Kyiv and its allies accuse the Russian president of stalling tactics as his troops continue making slow progress on the battlefield – despite the reporting of very high combat casualties.