Russian forces conducted a large-scale drone attack against Ukraine overnight on 22 October, resulting in civilian casualties in Sumy and triggering air defense responses across multiple regions.
Russia killed three family members in Sumy
According to Suspilne, Ukraine’s public broadcaster, a Russian drones strike on a residential area in Sumy killed three civilians. The victims included a 14-year-old girl, Anna Kushnariova, her 50-year-old mother, and her 62-year-old aunt.
The regional prosecutor’s office reports that the girl’s 50-year-old father survived the attack as he was in the yard at the time, but was injured.
The girl’s school, Sumy School No. 27, posted a tribute saying,
“A Shahed made a direct hit on the house. She was a kind, friendly, sensitive, cheerful girl, a diligent student.”
Earlier on 21 October, Russian forces had already attacked Sumy with Shahed drones, damaging dozens of residential buildings across various districts and a kindergarten building.
Nighttime drone attack
The Russian strike on Sumy city was part of a larger drone assault against Ukraine. Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 60 drones, including Shahed-type UAVs and drones of unidentified types, between 20:00 on 21 October and the early hours of 22 October. The drones were launched from Kursk, Yeysk, and Primorsko-Akhtarsk in Russia.
Ukrainian air defenses, including aviation, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare units, and mobile fire groups of the Air Force and Defense Forces, intercepted 42 drones across eight oblasts: Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Kherson, and Kharkiv. The majority of the drones were shot down over Sumy Oblast.
The Air Force additionally reported that 10 Russian drones were “locationally lost” – meaning crashed, one drone flew into Belarus, and three returned to Russia. One enemy drone remained in Ukrainian airspace as the time of the report (8:58).
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