by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – The human cost of the war between Russia and Ukraine continued on Saturday as Ukrainian drone strikes inside Russia and renewed Russian attacks on Ukraine left more civilians dead and injured.
Russian authorities said overnight Ukrainian drone attacks killed eight people and wounded more than 60 across several regions, while Ukraine continued to recover from days of Russian missile and drone strikes that have claimed civilian lives, including in and around the capital, Kyiv.
The latest violence underscored how the conflict, now in its fifth year since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, continues to bring suffering to people on both sides.
HUMAN SUFFERING GROWS
Residents in Russia watched emergency crews battle fires after Ukrainian drones struck two large warehouses belonging to Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries. One warehouse was located in Kotovsk, about 360 kilometers (220 miles) from the Ukrainian border, while the other was in Elektrostal, east of Moscow.
Russian officials said seven of those killed were night-shift workers at the Kotovsk warehouse. Dozens of other people were reported injured in attacks across several regions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the targeted warehouses were being used to store sanctioned components destined for Russian drone production and navigation systems. He also said Ukrainian forces struck an oil facility.
Kyiv further reported attacks on vessels in the Black and Azov seas that it said were transporting oil, fuel and military cargo, as well as strikes against military logistics infrastructure in occupied Ukrainian territory.
ESCALATING MILITARY ATTACKS
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense systems intercepted 379 Ukrainian drones overnight over 19 regions, including the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula, as well as over the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
The Ukrainian operation followed several days of intense Russian missile and drone attacks.
Earlier this week, Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least two people and injured several others, including a child. Other attacks elsewhere in Ukraine also caused civilian casualties and widespread damage.
The exchange of attacks has deepened concerns that civilians are increasingly bearing the burden of a conflict with no immediate end in sight.
HEAVY TOLL OF WAR
According to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), both Russia and Ukraine continue to sustain heavy military losses.
The think tank estimates Russia has suffered about 1.4 million battlefield casualties, including up to 450,000 deaths, since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022. It estimates Ukrainian military casualties at between 525,000 and 625,000, including those killed and wounded.
Those figures reflect military casualties and do not include the many civilians who have been killed, injured, displaced, or traumatized during the conflict.
RENEWED APPEALS FOR PEACE
As the violence persists, there are prayers and international calls for peace in hope of bringing an end to what is now Europe’s deadliest armed conflict since the Second World War.
With the death toll mounting Pope Leo XIV is among religious leaders urging an end to the bloodshed, calling for dialogue, reconciliation, and a just and lasting peace.
Yet more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, families in both Russia and Ukraine continue to endure loss, fear, and uncertainty.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
The United States is rapidly approaching another historic fiscal milestone, with the national debt now nearing $40 trillion as Washington continues running massive annual deficits and interest costs consume a growing share of federal spending.
U.S. envoy Jared Kushner met senior Hamas leaders in Egypt on Sunday as the Trump administration intensified efforts to move Gaza toward disarmament and postwar governance, even as Israel continued targeted strikes against terrorist operatives inside the Gaza Strip.
A third red heifer has been born in Israel this season, giving rabbis three candidates now being examined as part of renewed efforts connected to the biblical purification rites required for Temple service.
A highly unusual midsummer storm swept across parts of Israel on Saturday, August 15, bringing heavy rain to Jerusalem, shattering August rainfall records near the capital, and sending floodwaters through a Judean Desert stream in what meteorologists described as an unprecedented summer event.
France’s Constitutional Council has upheld the core provisions of a sweeping new law establishing a legal right to assisted dying, clearing one of the final major obstacles to euthanasia and assisted suicide in a nation long shaped by Catholic tradition.
Scores of people have been killed after a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia’s Flores Island early Saturday, authorities said, as rescuers struggled to reach some of the hardest-hit areas, while a less powerful tremor was reported in North Sumatra province.
Five people were injured, one critically, in a shooting involving multiple gunmen at Virginia State University early Saturday, authorities said, a day after six people, including a suspected shooter, died in separate shootings in Michigan.