What did the final days of January 2025 show?

What did the days leading up to 3 February 2025 reveal about the war's toll on Ukrainian cities? Reports from 30 January to 1 February describe three separate strikes, each hitting civilian areas far apart from one another.

On 30 January, a Russian drone struck a multi-storey apartment building in Sumy, killing nine people and injuring 13 others. The next day, 31 January, Russian forces fired ballistic missiles at the centre of Odesa and its port. Numerous civilian buildings were severely damaged, including the historic Bristol Hotel, and at least two people were reportedly injured.

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

What the pattern shows

The three incidents involved different weapons and different regions: a drone in Sumy, ballistic missiles in Odesa and a missile in Poltava. Taken together, the reports show attacks on residential buildings and city centres in the north-east, the south and the centre-east of the country within three days.

The human cost was concentrated in residential housing. Nine people died in Sumy and at least fourteen in Poltava, with dozens more injured across the incidents. In Odesa, the damage fell on the city centre and port area, including a historic building.

The strike that killed three police officers in Sumy Oblast shows that casualties were not limited to apartment blocks. Sumy and its surrounding region were hit more than once in the space of three days.