Russia has carried out its deadliest attack against Ukraine this year, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than 100 in a wave of drone and missile strikes across the country. According to Ukraine’s air force, Russia launched nearly 700 drones and dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles. Nine people died in the southern port city of Odesa and four were killed in Kyiv, including a 12-year-old boy. There were three fatalities in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Another person died in Zaporizhzhia oblast.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, wrote on social media: “Such attacks cannot be normalised. These are war crimes that must be stopped and their perpetrators held to account.”

In this regard, on 17 April 2026, the State Flag of Ukraine is being flown at half-mast as a sign of mourning and a Book of Condolences is opened at the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Mozambique in electronic form (please send your messages to: [email protected]).