by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukraine faced a bloodstained Easter after at least five people were killed and 19 wounded in Russian drone strikes on a street market in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The attack was the latest in a series of strikes that United Nations officials say have contributed to a rise in premature births among Ukrainian women, linked to stress caused by ongoing bombardment.
Firefighters worked to extinguish a blaze after what authorities described as a Russian drone attack on market stalls and a shop in the city of Nikopol on Saturday. Bodies were seen lying nearby as several people were killed and injured.
In another attack, in the city of Sumy, houses, cars, and utility networks were reportedly hit, wounding nearly a dozen people.
It came after President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of an “Easter escalation”, saying Russian forces fired nearly 300 drones overnight.
Zelensky said there was not “a single hour of peace” for his people and accused Russia of intensifying strikes despite Kyiv’s proposal for an Easter ceasefire.
IMPACT ON MOST VULNERABLE
The violence is also affecting the most vulnerable. The United Nations Population Fund said overwhelming stress from the risk of bombardment is contributing to rising rates of premature childbirth.
Faye Callaghan, a health specialist in Kyiv, said hospitals on the front line have reported more babies being born too soon. “We’ve seen reports from hospitals on the front line about rising rates of premature birth,” she explained.
“Babies born too soon are more physically vulnerable… they’re more physically vulnerable to development issues, to infections, and also it’s harder for them to initiate breastfeeding,” the health expert noted.
“And they’re being born too soon primarily as a result of stress. So women that are pregnant experiencing high levels of stress from bombardments and also the psychological stress,” Callaghan added in an interview with Independent Television.
“Their partner is probably away fighting, so they’re not there to support them.”
ESCALATION ON BOTH SIDES
However, anxiety is also growing in parts of Russia as Ukraine responds with stepped-up attacks on energy infrastructure, aiming to cut into Moscow’s key source of war revenue.
Authorities said Russia’s NORSI oil refinery was hit on Easter Sunday, setting it ablaze, while a fuel reservoir leaked at the Baltic Sea port of Primorsk after being struck by shrapnel.
Human suffering continues as well with Ukraine’s president claiming some 35,000 Russians were killed or seriously wounded last month — the highest level since the start of the war in February 2022.
While those figures could not be independently verified, experts say total Russian and Ukrainian casualties in the more than four-year-long war are nearing two million.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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