Russia intensifies strikes across Ukraine as search for missing child in Kryvyi Rih enters second week

Russian forces have intensified their aerial campaign against Ukrainian cities over the past 48 hours, striking targets from Kharkiv to Chernihiv and hitting a border crossing with Moldova, as Bloomberg reported that Moscow is preparing to escalate ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv and other cities after peace talks reached a deadlock.

The deadliest single incident remains the 21 August double-tap drone strike on a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih, which killed 16 people and injured 136, including 26 children. As of 24 August, the search operation was in its fourth day, with three people — including one child — still missing under the rubble, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine Source. On 27 August, two more people were injured when Russian missiles hit an industrial facility in the same city, local defence council head Oleksandr Vilkul reported Source.

Strikes on civilian infrastructure

On the night of 24-25 August, a Russian missile strike on Kharkiv killed one person in the Osnovianskyi district, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov Source. The following afternoon, two men aged 50 and 51 were killed in an FPV drone strike on the village of Slatyne in Kharkiv Oblast as they were clearing debris from an earlier attack, said Viacheslav Zadorenko, head of the Derhachi City Military Administration Source.

In Chernihiv Oblast, Russian forces carried out 45 attacks on 24 August alone, injuring 38 people including several children and teenagers, according to regional head Viacheslav Chaus Source. A strike on an apartment building in the city of Chernihiv injured 25 people. On 26 August, Russian forces struck Chernihiv again, hitting a warehouse and injuring four people, with reports that workers may remain trapped under rubble, said city military administration head Dmytro Bryzhynskyi Source.

In Lozova, Kharkiv Oblast, Russian forces struck a business centre in a densely populated residential area on 26 August, injuring at least 10 people. The attack was a double-tap strike, with a second missile hitting after emergency services had arrived, according to local hromada head Serhii Zelenskyi Source. Zelenskyi described it as a “deliberate attempt to cause the maximum number of casualties.”

Infrastructure and humanitarian damage

Russian drone strikes on the night of 24-25 August hit the Vynohradivka international road border crossing with Moldova, damaging its infrastructure and forcing its temporary closure, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported Source. Traffic was redirected to other crossings.

In Konotop, Sumy Oblast, a Russian strike destroyed premises of an agricultural business and railway infrastructure, leaving parts of the city without gas. A 14-year-old girl was injured, according to Mayor Artem Semenikhin Source.

A Russian drone attack on the evening of 23 August caused a fire at a Ukrainian Red Cross warehouse in Kherson, damaging humanitarian supplies worth nearly UAH 28 million (about US$627,000), including winter preparation equipment and medical supplies Source.

In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, two DTEK miners — Vitalii Semenov, 52, and Illia Rusanenko, 48 — were killed when a Russian drone struck the car they were travelling in after their night shift on 26 August Source.

Escalation fears

Bloomberg reported on 26 August, citing three people close to the Kremlin, that Russia is weighing intensified ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities as peace talks have reached a deadlock Source. The sources said all attempts at negotiations have effectively collapsed and the two sides are “back at square one.” Moscow increasingly views Ukrainian strikes on its oil refineries and logistics as attacks by NATO states, the sources added.

Russia’s total combat losses as of 25 August were estimated by Ukraine’s General Staff at approximately 1,479,300 personnel, including 1,230 over the previous day Source.

The pattern of strikes — double-tap attacks on civilian targets, repeated hits on the same locations, and deliberate targeting of infrastructure — suggests a deliberate strategy to maximise casualties and disrupt daily life ahead of winter, as the diplomatic track remains frozen.