26 Dead as Russia Unleashes Hellfire on Ukraine Hours Before Ceasefire

The carnage unfolded with devastating precision. Just hours before Kyiv’s announced ceasefire was supposed to take effect, Russian forces unleashed a coordinated assault across Ukraine that left at least 26 people dead and more than 80 wounded.

The barrage was merciless. Heavy glide bombs pounded Kramatorsk in the east, Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, and Chernihiv in the north on Tuesday afternoon. Ukraine’s air force reported the scale of the onslaught: 11 ballistic missiles and 164 drones launched since Monday evening. Despite Ukrainian air defenses intercepting one missile and 149 drones, eight missiles and 14 drones still found their marks across 14 locations.

Zaporizhzhia absorbed the worst of it. Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov confirmed at least 12 people killed and more than a dozen injured in his region alone. In Kramatorsk, the last hub under Kyiv’s control in the contested Donetsk region, the death toll reached five. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later announced that four more people were killed in Dnipro.

But the horror extended beyond military targets. Russian forces struck Ukraine’s state-run gas infrastructure with brutal efficiency. Overnight missile and drone attacks on gas facilities in Poltava and Kharkiv killed at least five people. Serhiy Koretskyi, CEO of Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz, revealed the extent of the destruction: three employees and two rescue workers murdered, 37 people wounded, and gas supplies cut to nearly 3,500 customers.

“We have sustained significant damage and production losses,” Koretskyi stated, describing it as “a combined strike involving UAVs and ballistic missiles.”

Zelenskyy erupted in fury. “Russia could cease fire at any moment. This would stop the war and our responses,” he declared on X, accusing Russian authorities of displaying “utter cynicism” by announcing a ceasefire and then launching attacks.

The timing wasn’t accidental. Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced a ceasefire for Friday and Saturday to commemorate Russia’s World War II victory. Instead, Russia unleashed this devastating assault just hours before Kyiv’s ceasefire was to begin.

Ukraine faces a critical vulnerability. As Al Jazeera correspondent Audrey Macalpine reported from Kyiv, “Ukraine has become accustomed to intercepting drones regularly, but it still lacks sufficient means to intercept especially ballistic missiles.” This is why Zelenskyy desperately pleads with European partners for advanced air defense systems like Patriot missiles.

Meanwhile, Ukraine struck back. A drone attack on Russia’s Chuvashia Republic killed two people and wounded at least 32, including a child. Ukrainian forces also ignited a massive fire at the Kirishinefteorgsintez oil refinery in Russia’s Leningrad region, one of the country’s largest refineries, processing 350,000 barrels of oil per day and accounting for 6.6 percent of Russia’s total refining capacity.

Moscow claimed its air defense destroyed 289 Ukrainian drones overnight. The war grinds on, and the ceasefire remains fragile.