26 killed in Russia-Ukraine retaliatory strikes in a single day

In retaliatory strikes between Russia and Ukraine on Monday, a total of 26 people were killed across the two countries. Among the dead, 15 were Russian citizens and 11 were Ukrainian nationals.

Russian administration sources said those killed in Ukrainian drone strikes on Monday were residents of Russia's Krasnodar, Belgorod and Crimea.

Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said in a statement that a Ukrainian drone strike on the resort village of Arkhipo-Osipovka in the Gelendzhik district of the southern Russian province killed seven people, including three children, and injured around 40 others.

Besides Krasnodar, Ukrainian forces also launched drone strikes on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and the Russian province of Belgorod bordering Ukraine on the same day. Four people were killed and two injured in Crimea, while four were killed and 17 injured in Belgorod.

On the same day, an explosive-laden Russian drone struck a petrol station in the Kryvyi Rih district of Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk province, killing three people, including an emergency service worker and his eight-year-old son. Dnipropetrovsk Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said in a post on Telegram that the petrol station caught fire in the strike, causing significant damage to the station and surrounding areas.

On Monday night, Russian forces launched drone and missile strikes on Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia province, killing eight people, including two children.

Although civilian casualties in the Russia-Ukraine war remained near zero in 2022, the rate has risen alarmingly in recent months. Both sides have denied targeting civilians.

Source: Al Jazeera