Topic analysis

Russian attack on Ukraine market kills five

A Russian drone attack on a market in southern Ukraine has killed five people and injured 21, including a 14-year-old girl, the prosecutor general's office says. The attack took place at 09:50 (06.50 GMT) in the town of Nikopol, just across the Dnipro river from land occupied by Russia since their full-scale invasion. Pictures published by the regional prosecutor show smashed market kiosks strewn with metal, glass and food. It comes after at least 15 civilians were killed in drone and missile strikes across the country on Friday. Meanwhile a drone and missile attack by Ukraine on the southern Russian city of Taganrog overnight killed at least one person and seriously injured four, Russia said. Ukraine's Nikopol frequently comes under fire, and almost half of the town's 100,000 residents left long ago for safety. But these drones hit in the middle of Saturday morning – in a busy spot – and the number of casualties is high. Two men were injured in a second strike on the same location, the prosecutor said, adding that the attacks were being investigated as a war crime. Russia launched almost 300 drones against Ukraine again overnight, the Ukrainian air force said, and casualties were also reported in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and the northern Sumy region. Meanwhile Moscow said it had shot down 85 Ukrainian drones. Rostov regional governor Yuri Slyusar said the attack in Taganrog had caused a fire to break out in the premises of a logistics company in the city. A Ukrainian defence ministry official blamed the casualties on "Russian air defence operations". Kyiv also reported two attacks on factories it said were used by the Russian military industrial complex. The defence official said a "massive attack" was carried out on a plant in Togliatti that produced synthetic rubber and petrochemical raw materials. Later Ukraine's Security Service said drone strikes had halted production at the Alchevsk metallurgical plant in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine's Luhansk region. As a result of the attack, the second in a month, blast furnaces, production shops and other key areas of the factory were damaged, the agency said. President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered Russia a truce for the Easter holidays. But so far, Moscow is ignoring that. Major daytime attacks by Russia, which were once rare, have been increasing. They are happening as efforts to end the war, led by the US, have stalled since US President Donald Trump and his team shifted focus to the conflict in the Middle East .