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Drone strikes on civilians in late October 2025
Summary
A look back at two drone attacks reported on 26 October 2025, one in Sumy Oblast and one in Russian-controlled Donetsk.
What did the war look like for civilians in the days before 28 October 2025? Two reports from 26 October 2025 give a snapshot of drone warfare reaching ordinary settings on both sides of the front line.
In Mykolaivka, in Sumy Raion of Sumy Oblast, a Russian drone struck a minibus. One person was killed and 13 others were injured, two of them seriously. The incident was reported as part of the 2025 Sumy offensive.
The same day, a Ukrainian drone strike hit an apartment building in Russian-controlled Donetsk, in Donetsk Oblast. Two people were killed, including an elderly woman, and another person was injured.
What the reports show
Both attacks involved drones and both caused casualties among people in everyday civilian settings: a passenger minibus and a residential block. Taken together, the reports show that the use of drones was not confined to one side or one region, and that its human cost was being counted in both Sumy Oblast and Donetsk Oblast.
The casualty figures reported at the time were one dead and 13 injured in Mykolaivka, and two dead and one injured in Donetsk.
