Drone Strike in Ukraine Kills Three Toddlers and Father

A Russian drone strike on a family home in northeastern Ukraine killed three young children and their father, while seriously injuring their pregnant mother, officials reported Wednesday.

The attack occurred late Tuesday night in the city of Bogodukhiv, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Russian border. The victims included two boys, aged one, and a two-year-old girl. Their mother, who is eight months pregnant, survived but suffered a traumatic brain injury, acoustic barotrauma, and thermal burns. Their grandmother was also wounded and hospitalized.

Local prosecutors said the family had been trapped inside the house after the strike. Video shared by emergency services showed flames and smoke rising from the collapsed roof of the destroyed home. “As a result of the strike, the house was completely destroyed and caught fire, and the family was trapped under the rubble,” prosecutors said in a Telegram statement.

The tragedy sparked widespread outrage across Ukraine. Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko condemned the attack, calling it “deliberate terror against civilians, against families, against children. Russia is consciously killing our future.”

Bogodukhiv Mayor Volodymyr Biely confirmed that the family had recently moved to the city, fleeing a settlement closer to the frontline.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack demonstrated that Russia was not serious about ending the war, which began with Moscow’s invasion in February 2022. “Each such Russian strike undermines trust in diplomatic efforts to end this war and proves that only strong pressure on Russia and clear security guarantees for Ukraine are the real key to stopping the killings,” Zelensky wrote on social media.

In a separate incident, a Russian drone reportedly struck a hospital in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, according to Zelensky.

Moscow denies targeting civilians, though thousands have been killed since the invasion. The United Nations has verified nearly 15,000 civilian deaths, though it warns the actual number is likely much higher due to inaccessible areas under Russian occupation.

Under U.S. pressure, Ukraine and Russia have begun talks to negotiate a potential end to the conflict, but positions remain far apart. Moscow is demanding sweeping territorial and political concessions, which Kyiv rejects as tantamount to surrender.