Immediately after the ceasefire negotiations held in Istanbul, Russia launched a massive drone strike across Ukraine, resulting in at least 65 casualties.
Local media, including the Kyiv Independent, reported on the 17th (local time) that 13 people were killed and 32 injured in this attack.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian forces launched a total of 62 drones, including Shahed-type attack drones and decoy drones, from the Crimea peninsula that it annexed over the past 24 hours. The Ukrainian air defense forces shot down 36 of them, and 6 decoy drones were neutralized by electronic warfare.
Authorities in Odessa reported that drones struck two areas where civilian infrastructure is located, injuring 3 people and damaging several dwellings, farm buildings, and vehicles. In Kherson, an EPV drone collided with a cleaning vehicle, injuring 3 people.
In Sumy, one drone directly hit a passenger bus near Bilopillia, resulting in 9 fatalities and 7 injuries. In Dnipropertrovsk, drones fell in several villages, but no casualties were reported.
In Kharkiv, one person was killed and 9 were injured due to drone attacks, while in Donetsk, 18 cities and towns were shelled by Russian forces, resulting in 3 civilian deaths and at least 10 injuries.
On that day, Russian forces launched a total of 85 attacks against 23 regions and 31 towns in Ukraine, using guided bombs, rockets, and drone-dropped grenades. This caused significant damage to many dwellings and infrastructure facilities, and 69 residents near the front line were urgently evacuated.
Ukrainian forces also counterattacked. According to Ukrainian security sources, on the same day, a drone hit a supply depot of the Russian 126th Coastal Defense Brigade near the village of Perevalne in Crimea, causing a large explosion and fire, resulting in the death of one Russian soldier.