Every day, Ukrainians live under the threat of air raids and missiles. Russia continues its systematic terror against civilians- striking homes, schools, hospitals, and vital infrastructure. Front-line towns suffer daily, but no region is truly safe.
These are not mistakes. They are deliberate assaults designed to destroy lives, erase futures, and target Ukraine's most vulnerable - children and those who try to protect them.
This is not just brutality.It is a strategy of national erasure.
This UkraineWorld analysis documents the deadliest Russian attacks of 2025 - those that killed ten or more people.
Date: February 1, 2025
Location: Poltava
Type of attack: Missile strike (Kh-22)
Target/damage: A Russian Kh-22 missile struck a five-story residential building in Poltava at 07:44 a.m., destroying an entire entrance section with apartments. The explosion caused additional damage to nearly 20 nearby apartment buildings and a kindergarten. In total, 259 apartments were affected, over 350 windows were shattered, and more than 190 balconies were destroyed.
Casualties: 15 people killed, including 3 children (ages 7, 9, and 12). 20 injured, including 4 children (ages 3 months, 2, 8, and 12).
22 people were rescued from the debris. The strike caused a massive fire and structural collapse. Emergency services completed rescue operations by February 2.
Date: March 7, 2025
Location: Dobropillia, Donetsk Oblast
Type of attack: Combined strike (Iskander-M missile, Tornado-S MLRS, and Geran-2 drone)
Target/damage: The strike damaged residential areas, critical infrastructure, and public institutions. Among the affected:
Casualties: 11 people killed, including emergency responders and civilians. 49 injured, including 8 children.
One of the missiles struck the city's Department of Social Protection, which had been providing assistance to displaced persons and people with disabilities. The combined attack occurred on the evening of March 7 and continued into the early hours of March 8.
Date: April 4, 2025
Location: Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Type of attack: Ballistic missile strike (Iskander-M with cluster munitions) and drone strikes
Target/damage:
Casualties: 20 people killed (including 9 children). 68 injured (including at least 12 children).
A 3-month-old baby and other minors were among the wounded.
One woman was burned alive when a drone hit her home during the second attack.
Ukraine's Armed Forces confirmed Russia used an Iskander-M missile with a cluster warhead, designed to cause maximum civilian casualties.
Russia falsely claimed it targeted a gathering of Ukrainian and Western military officials.
Ukrainian officials and eyewitnesses said the area was entirely civilian, and the victims included schoolchildren and families.
Date: April 13, 2025
Location:Sumy
Type of attack: Double ballistic missile strike using cluster munitions
Target/damage:
Casualties: 35 confirmed killed, including an 11-year-old boy and a 17-year-old teenager. 117 people injured, including 11 children.
Russiastruck Sumy with two ballistic missiles armed with cluster munitions during Palm Sunday - a sacred day in Ukraine when familiestraditionally gather and attend church. The first missile hit the university's Congress Center just minutes before a scheduled children's performance. The second struck the street nearby, killing pedestrians and destroying passing vehicles.
Witnesses described scenes of devastation, with bodies lying in the street, cars burning, and families searching for loved ones. International leaders condemned the strike as a war crime and a deliberate act of terror against peaceful civilians exercising their faith.
Date:April 24, 2025
Location: Kyiv
Type of attack: Massive combined missile and drone strike (including possible use of North Korean-made ballistic missiles)
Target/damage:
Casualties:
13 people killed, including a 17-year-old teenager and a brother and sister from the same family. 87 people injured.
Russia launched a record-scale assault involving 215 aerial threats (missiles and drones).
Ukraine's Air Force confirmed 112 aerial targets were intercepted, including 48 out of 70 missiles and 64 out of 145 drones.
The attack included Iskander ballistic missiles, Kh-101 and Kalibr cruise missiles, Shahed-type drones, and missile simulators.
Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, stated that preliminary intelligence suggests a ballistic missile used during the attack was manufactured by North Korea, though investigations are ongoing.
Western-provided fighter jets (F-16s and Mirage) helped intercept numerous cruise missiles and drones, although aircraft cannot intercept ballistic missiles.
Date: June 17, 2025
Location: Kyiv
Type of attack: Massive combined missile and drone strike, as part of a large-scale nationwide assault
Target/damage:
Casualties:
The June 17 strike on Kyiv was part of one of Russia's largest air assaults to date: over 440 drones and 32 missiles launched nationwide.
Russia targeted Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv and Kyiv Oblasts.
Over 1,200 emergency responders and 300 units of equipment were deployed, including robotic systems and DSNS helicopters. Dozens of people were evacuated, and psychological support was provided to those affected.
In Odesa, 2 people were killed and 13 were injured. Residential buildings, vehicles, an inclusive centre were damaged and several fires broke out.
Search and rescue efforts in the Solomianskyi district in Kyiv lasted over 39 hours. Over 400 emergency responders from Kyiv, Cherkasy, central DSNS units and more than 200 units of specialised DSNS equipment (including drones, robotic and engineering tools and canine search teams) were deployed.
Date: June 23, 2025
Location: Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast
Type of attack: Large-scale combined missile and drone strike, reportedly involving ballistic missiles, including those of North Korean origin
Target/damage:
Casualties:
Rescue operations continued throughout the day, removing over 600 cubic meters of rubble with 31 pieces of equipment. In the broader Kyiv Oblast, especially Bila Tserkva, a missile struck a private medical clinic, sparking a fire. Dozens of buildings and cars were damaged, including the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral. Public transportation was disrupted in several parts of Kyiv, with temporary closures and rerouting in place around affected areas.
Ukraine's Air Force reported downing 339 of 352 drones and 15 of 16 missiles targeting four Ukrainian regions. Officials suspect the use of North Korean ballistic missiles, escalating concerns over deepening Russia--North Korea military cooperation.
Date: June 24, 2025
Location: Dnipro and Samar, Dnipropetrovska Oblast
Type of attack: Massive ballistic missile strike targeting civilian infrastructure and transport
Target/damage:
Casualties:
The youngest patient was six months old. In Samar, 14 people were injured, 8 of them hospitalised, half in critical condition.
The first explosion occurred at 11:01. Ukraine's Air Force identified high-speed ballistic missile threats. Rapid response teams evacuated and sheltered passengers at the train station during the ongoing air raid.
Public transport disruptions occurred throughout the day, but were later restored.
The strike coincided with the NATO summit in The Hague, where Secretary General Mark Rutte reaffirmed that Russia remains the alliance's greatest immediate and long-term threat.
Date: July 28, 2025
Location: Zaporizhzhia Oblast
Type of attack: Nighttime airstrike using guided aerial bombs (FABs) targeting a penal institution
Target/damage:
Casualties:
Medical care was provided within the prison's infirmary and other internal departments. The prison perimeter remained intact and there was no escape risk.
Ukrainian officials and international human rights monitors classify such deliberate attacks on non-combatant facilities as war crimes.
Date: July 30-31, 2025
Location: Kyiv
Type of attack: Large-scale combined missile and drone strike targeting residential areas
Target/damage:
Casualties:
The attack began late on July 30 and continued into the early morning of July 31, prompting two separate air raid alerts due to drone and ballistic missile threats. Kyiv's emergency services reported explosions across the city, with missile impacts confirmed around 4:30 a.m.
More than 2,000 tons of debris were cleared by 180 rescue workers and 60 emergency vehicles.
Over 20 people were rescued in the first moments of the response, many pulled from destroyed stairwells and collapsed apartments. Rescue efforts continued throughout the day and into the night in both Sviatoshynskyi and Solomianskyi districts.
A two-year-old child was among the dead, recovered from under the rubble.
On August 6, another victim died because of injuries received, raising the final death toll to 32.
Prosecutors have opened a war crimes investigation under Article 438 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code.
UN observers have noted a dangerous upward trend in civilian casualties from Russian strikes for the second consecutive month.
Date: August 28, 2025
Location: Kyiv
Type of attack: Combined missile and drone strike, including Iskander-M ballistic missiles, Kh-47 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles, Kh-101 cruise missiles and Shahed-type attack drones.
Target/damage:
Casualties:
Kyiv city services deployed nearly 800 personnel and 162 units of equipment for emergency response, clearing over 2,060 cubic meters of debris.
23 families need resettlement; emergency financial aid applications have already been filed by hundreds of residents.
The August 28 attack was one of the most massive and complex, involving simultaneous launches of missiles and drones from multiple directions.
Russia deliberately strikes civilian homes, schools, hospitals and diplomatic missions while continuing to deny targeting civilians.
Date: September 9, 2025
Location: Yarova, Donetsk Oblast
Type of attack: Missile strike (guided air bomb)
Target/damage:
The pensioners' queue near the mobile Ukrposhta van in the centre of Yarova. The van was parked under trees as people waited for pensions.
Casualties:
The deadliest Russian attack on civilians in 2024 and 2025 so far was the Palm Sunday strike on Sumy, where 35 people, including children, were killed by ballistic missiles in the city center. Just days earlier, in Kryvyi Rih, a missile hit a residential area and a playground, killing 9 children.
These were not mistakes or battlefield accidents - they were deliberate, targeted acts of terror.
We hope this list will remain unchanged. But the grim reality is that it will likely grow, again and again, as new attacks occur. Ukraine continues to resist an enemy that is not only larger, but also brutal, one that disregards human life, justice, and even the most basic decency.
Despite calls for a ceasefire and peace talks, Russia continues to attack civilians. It cannot be trusted.
You cannot believe in words when the actions bring death.
This publication was compiled with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation. It’s content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the International Renaissance Foundation.
