A building engulfed in fire after a Russian drone attack hit the city of Kamianske Wednesday night injuring eight people, November 6, 2025. VOLODMYR ZELENSKY/X
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has renewed calls for tougher international sanctions on Russia following a fresh wave of drone strikes that left eight people injured in the central Dnipro region.
In a statement on Thursday, Zelensky said Russia launched 135 attack drones in a single night, targeting multiple Ukrainian regions, including Sumy, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv.
He said the strikes damaged residential buildings and railway infrastructure in the city of Kamianske, where rescuers acted quickly and saved five people from under the rubble.
“It was another turbulent night for Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “The fact that the Russians continue targeting energy facilities and civilians shows once again that the pressure is still insufficient.”
He urged the United States, Europe, and the G7 to tighten sanctions and tariffs on Russia’s energy trade and finances, and to move swiftly on using Moscow’s frozen assets to support Ukraine’s defence and reconstruction.
“It is only fair that the aggressor’s money be used to protect against its war,” he added.
The latest strikes come as the war, now in its third year, continues to grind on with no immediate sign of a ceasefire.
Rescuers work to save the injured after Russian drone strikes left eight people injured in the central Dnipro region. /ZELENSKY/XThe conflict began on February 24, 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of
Ukraine, claiming it was necessary to “demilitarise and denazify” the country.
Moscow said it sought to prevent Ukraine from joining the NATO alliance and to protect Russian-speaking populations in eastern Ukraine.
However, Western nations and Kyiv have consistently rejected those claims, describing the invasion as an unprovoked act of aggression aimed at reasserting Russian influence over its neighbour.
The war has since caused tens of thousands of deaths, displaced millions and devastated Ukraine’s economy and infrastructure.
It has also triggered a global food and energy crisis, with ripple effects across Africa, where many countries rely heavily on Ukrainian grain and Russian fertilisers.
A building engulfed in fire after a Russian drone attack hit the city of Kamianske, Wednesday night, injuring eight people, November 6, 2025. VOLODMYR ZELENSKY/XAmid the ongoing escalation, President Zelensky on Thursday held a telephone conversation with Kenyan President William Ruto, during which the two leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine and its broader international implications.
Zelensky said he briefed Ruto on Russia’s latest attacks targeting civilians and critical infrastructure and expressed gratitude for Kenya’s continued solidarity.
“I am grateful for his warm words of support,” he said.
The leaders also discussed reports that Russia has been recruiting foreign citizens to join its military campaign, with Zelensky describing the practice as both fraudulent and criminal.
“We touched upon the issue of Russia’s recruitment of foreign citizens into its criminal war,” Zelensky said.
“We are aware of all the fraudulent methods being used and will work more closely to put an end to them.”
Their talks also explored areas of bilateral cooperation, with both sides agreeing that their respective teams will continue advancing joint development projects.
Zelensky further highlighted the plight of Ukrainian children who have been forcibly taken to Russia since the war began, calling it one of the gravest humanitarian crimes of the conflict.
“The focus was on the fate of Ukrainian children abducted and taken to Russia. We will continue to demand their return,” he said.
The Ukrainian leader’s renewed appeal underscores Kyiv’s determination to keep global attention fixed on Russia’s aggression and to mobilise broader international action as the war drags on into another winter.
