Ukraine, Russia kill several civilians in tit-for-tat attacks | Russia-Ukraine war News

At least seven people killed in Ukraine and three in Russia, a day after Zelenskyy renewed his Easter ceasefire offer.

A Ukrainian drone has killed three civilians in Russia’s Vladimir region, while two Russian attacks killed seven civilians in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson.

Drones bombed a residential building in the Alexandrovsky district in the ⁠west of ⁠the Vladimir ⁠region, Governor Alexander Avdeev said on Tuesday.

A couple and their 12-year-old son were killed in the attack, while their five-year-old daughter was in hospital with burns, local officials said.

Meanwhile, a Russian drone hit a city bus in the Dnipropetrovsk region’s Nikopol city on Tuesday, killing at least four people and injuring 16 others, according to Governor Oleksandr Hanzha.

In the southern city of Kherson, less than 5 kilometres (3.11 miles) from the frontline, a non-stop half-hour Russian attack on a residential area ⁠killed three elderly people and injured seven more, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram.

The attacks come a day after Kyiv launched significant attacks on Russia’s Black Sea export facilities, in a conflict which in the past month has seen Ukraine step up attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure.

Also on Tuesday, in Russia’s Voronezh region, a man sustained burns after a downed drone crashed onto the roof of a warehouse, the Interfax news agency reported, quoting Governor Alexander Gusev. Four houses were damaged as a result, it said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force said its air defences shot down 77 of 111 drones launched by Russia overnight.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence also said 45 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight, including 19 over the northwestern Leningrad region.

On Monday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said he stood by a proposal made to Russia for a ceasefire contingent on Moscow halting all attacks on energy infrastructure.

“If Russia is ready to stop strikes on our energy infrastructure, we will respond in kind,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address, having first offered to observe a ceasefire for Easter last week, the holiday celebrated by Orthodox Christians on April 12 in Russia and Ukraine.

However, after an overnight attack on the Black Sea, Zelenskyy said Russia ⁠appeared unwilling to agree to an Easter ceasefire.

“We have repeatedly proposed to Russia a ceasefire at least for Easter, ⁠a special time of the year,” he said. “But for them, all times are the same. Nothing is sacred.”

Moscow had reacted to Zelenskyy’s proposal last week, saying it favoured an overall peace deal instead.