Russian drone kills a father and 3 children in Ukraine, pregnant mother badly injured

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone smashed into a location successful Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv portion overnight, sidesplitting a begetter and his 3 tiny children and earnestly wounding their parent who is 35 weeks pregnant, officials said Wednesday.

The onslaught wholly destroyed the ceramic location and acceptable it connected fire, with the household trapped nether the rubble, according to the Kharkiv determination prosecutor’s office.

The 34-year-old begetter and his 3 children — duplicate boys aged 2 and their 1-year-old sister — were killed, portion rescue workers pulled the parent live from the rubble, prosecutors said. She sustained blast injuries, a traumatic encephalon injury, burns and proceeding loss, they said.

During the astir 4 years since Russia invaded its neighbor, and contempt a caller propulsion implicit the past twelvemonth successful U.S.-led bid efforts, Ukrainian civilians person endured changeless aerial attacks.

Last twelvemonth was the deadliest for civilians successful Ukraine since 2022 arsenic Russia intensified its aerial barrages down the beforehand line, according to the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission successful the country.

The warfare killed 2,514 civilians and injured 12,142 successful Ukraine successful 2025 — 31% higher than successful 2024, it said.

The drone that struck the Kharkiv municipality of Bohodukhiv was identified arsenic a Geran-2, a Russian-made mentation of an Iranian Shahed drone.

“We mislaid what is astir precious — our future,” Bohodukhiv politician Volodymyr Bielyi wrote connected his Facebook page. “There are nary words to console the family; determination is nary supplication that could heal the bosom of a parent who has mislaid her children.”

Bielyi said the parent is warring for her beingness successful infirmary and announced 3 days of mourning, erstwhile nationalist flags volition beryllium lowered and each amusement and organized nationalist events volition beryllium cancelled.

“We volition endure. We volition remember. We volition ne'er forgive this fearfulness connected our land,” Bielyi wrote.

Bohodukhiv had a pre-war colonisation of 15,000. It is located immoderate 22 kilometers (13 miles) from the Russian border. It wasn't instantly wide whether determination was immoderate Ukrainian subject infrastructure adjacent the house.

“Each specified Russian onslaught undermines spot successful everything being done done diplomacy to extremity this war, and again and again proves that lone beardown unit connected Russia and wide information guarantees for Ukraine are the existent cardinal to stopping the killings,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said connected societal media.

Ukraine has accused Russian forces of committing countless warfare crimes since the commencement of the war, and European institutions person made efforts to clasp Russia accountable.

The International Criminal Court successful The Hague has aggregate outstanding apprehension warrants for Russian officials for warfare crimes. They see President Vladimir Putin, who is accused of idiosyncratic work for the abductions of children from Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said precocious Tuesday that Ukraine is making “many changes" successful the mode it fights Russia's aerial attacks, particularly with short-range aerial defenses. Training and replenishing caller troops are besides cardinal issues, helium said.

Ukraine has been short-handed against Russia's bigger army, though Moscow's forces person made lone creeping advancement successful their invasion.

Wide-scale desertions and 2 cardinal draft-dodgers are among a raft of challenges for Ukraine, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said past month.

Zelenskyy has besides pressed Western partners to supply much blase aerial defence systems and missiles to assistance support Ukraine.

Military assistance sent to Kyiv dropped by 13% past twelvemonth compared with the yearly mean betwixt 2022 and 2024, arsenic U.S. President Donald Trump stopped sending American weapons, according to Germany’s Kiel Institute, which tracks specified support.

However, European countries person taken up overmuch of the slack, expanding their subject assistance by 67% compared with the 2022-2024 period, the institute said successful a study Wednesday.

Foreign humanitarian and fiscal assistance to Ukraine fell by 5% past twelvemonth successful examination with the erstwhile 3 years, it said.

Ukraine’s Air Force says Russia launched 129 long-range drones astatine Ukraine past night.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone onslaught caused a occurrence astatine an concern works successful the metropolis of Volgograd, authorities said.

Volgograd region’s Gov. Andrei Bocharov said that drone fragments besides damaged an flat building.

Eight Russian airports concisely suspended flights overnight due to the fact that of drone attacks, officials said.

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