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, northeastern Ukraine
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.
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.
