A Russian missile strike killed at least seven people on Monday in the town of Merefa, located about fifteen kilometers from Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine. In the south, a couple was killed at the end of the day in a drone attack.

Published on: 05/04/2026 - 2:57 p.m. Modified on: 05/04/2026 - 6:40 p.m.

Ukrainian civilians continue to pay a high price in the war started by Russia. A Russian missile strike killed seven civilians in the town of Merefa, in eastern Ukraine, and a drone attack killed a couple in a southern town, Ukrainian authorities announced Monday (May 4).

Merefa, located near Kharkiv, the country's second city, was struck around 9:35 a.m. local time, the regional prosecutor's office said.

A journalist from Agence France-Presse (AFP) saw bodies lying in the street, covered with white blankets and sheets, as well as gutted stores and houses and damaged cars.

A woman, whose loved one was killed in a car, caressed his body through the vehicle window, head down.

Igor Kolodyajny, 41, lost his wife in the attack. He told AFP that he left his house ten minutes before his wife. When he heard the explosion, he "quickly jumped in his car" and drove towards her, trying in vain to contact her by phone.

“I get closer and I see that I no longer have a wife,” he told AFP, his voice trembling.

Dozens injured

The attack on Merefa killed four men aged 50 to 68 and three women, aged 74, 41 and 52, according to the latest report provided by the governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Synegoubov.

More than 30 people were injured, including a 2-year-old boy, according to consistent official sources.

According to preliminary information, the attack was carried out using an Iskander-type ballistic missile, the regional prosecutor's office said.

There was "a very violent explosion, which tore out windows", Oleksandr Bolotny, a 72-year-old retiree, told AFP.

Merefa has around twenty thousand inhabitants and is located around fifteen kilometers southwest of Kharkiv.

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Later in the day, a Russian drone attack killed a couple – a 62-year-old woman and a 51-year-old man – in the city of Vilniansk (Zaporizhia region, south), the regional governor said.

The strike hit a market and a church. Four people were injured, including the couple's son who was killed, according to the same source.

Ukraine has been fighting for more than four years against the large-scale Russian invasion and the Kharkiv region, bordering Russia, is very regularly targeted by Russian attacks.

A significant part of this territory was occupied by the Russian army at the start of the war in 2022, then largely recaptured by Ukrainian forces.

With AFP

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