Ukraine launched a wave of drone strikes on Russia on Sunday, sparking a fire at a nuclear power station as the country marked its Independence Day amid fading hopes for peace.
The escalation came just days after Moscow dismissed efforts by US President Donald Trump to arrange a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky. The war, now in its fourth year and responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, remains locked in stalemate despite recent Russian gains in Donetsk.
Ukraine retaliated by targeting Russian infrastructure with drones, including one that was shot down over the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in western Russia. The blast triggered a fire, which was later extinguished without casualties or radiation leaks. The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly cautioned about the risks of fighting around nuclear facilities.
Russian officials reported further drone interceptions over Saint Petersburg and the Ust-Luga port on the Gulf of Finland, where a strike ignited a fire at an energy terminal owned by Novatek.
Ukraine has increasingly relied on drones to hit Russian oil facilities, undermining a crucial source of funding for Moscow’s war effort. Russia, in turn, launched a major overnight assault with one ballistic missile and 72 Iranian-made Shahed drones, 48 of which Ukraine said it destroyed. A Russian drone strike killed a 47-year-old woman in Dnipropetrovsk region.
The attacks coincided with Ukraine’s Independence Day, commemorating its 1991 break from the Soviet Union. In an address, President Zelensky declared: “Ukraine has not yet fully won, but it will certainly not lose. Ukraine is not a victim; it is a fighter.”
World leaders, including Trump, China’s Xi Jinping, King Charles, and Pope Francis, sent messages of support. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended the Kyiv celebrations, urging “a just and lasting peace”.
Russia currently controls about a fifth of Ukraine, including Crimea, annexed in 2014. Despite mounting international pressure, President Putin continues to reject demands for an unconditional ceasefire, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirming no meeting between the two leaders is planned.