Three days of strikes before 3 February 2025

What did the days before 3 February 2025 look like for Ukrainian cities far from the front? As reported at the time, they brought a run of strikes on residential and civilian areas across the country.

On 30 January 2025, a Russian drone struck a multi-storey apartment building in Sumy. Nine people were killed and 13 others injured.

The next day, 31 January, Russian forces launched ballistic missiles at the centre of Odesa and its port. Numerous civilian buildings were severely damaged, among them the historic Bristol Hotel. At least two people were reportedly injured.

On 1 February, a Russian missile hit a residential building in Poltava. At least fourteen people were reportedly killed and at least 17 others injured. A separate strike on the same day killed three police officers in Sumy Oblast.

A pattern across regions

The three reported incidents fell on three consecutive days and in three different parts of Ukraine: Sumy in the north-east, Odesa on the Black Sea coast and Poltava in the centre-east. In each case, the damage described was to homes or to the centre of a city. Apartment blocks, a residential building and a historic hotel were all hit.

By 3 February 2025, the reported toll from these attacks was at least 23 civilians killed in Sumy and Poltava, plus three police officers killed in Sumy Oblast, with dozens more injured across the three places.