Russia once again launched a massive terror attack against Ukrainian cities and frontline areas on the night of May 20. Konotop, Dnipro, Odesa, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions were hit. The Russian army targeted residential buildings, warehouses, civilian infrastructure, the private sector, and objects unrelated to the front.
It was not just one point on the map, but a whole chain of attacks stretched across different regions of Ukraine. In some places, rescuers were clearing debris in a high-rise building where floors had collapsed. In other places, medics were fighting for the lives of the wounded after strikes on civilian objects. In the Zaporizhzhia region, among the victims were small children, including a two-year-old boy with burns.
For Israel, such a chronicle is also important. It’s not just about Russia’s war against Ukraine, but also about the familiar logic of terrorist regimes: striking civilians, keeping cities in fear, destroying normal life, and then calling it ‘military targets.’
Konotop: ‘Shahed’ hit a high-rise building, floors collapsed
One of the hardest-hit points of the night attack was Konotop in the Sumy region. The city was under a massive attack by Russian kamikaze drones for several hours. According to preliminary data from the Sumy regional prosecutor’s office, from 01:20 to 04:30, the Russian army launched at least 12 drones at Konotop.
One of the ‘Shaheds’ hit a residential high-rise in the city center. The strike hit the roof, after which the building’s structures could not withstand it. Floors from the second to the fourth collapsed in the building.
Konotop Mayor Artem Semenikhin reported that the rescue operation continued in the damaged high-rise, where three floors collapsed after a Russian drone hit. Units of the State Emergency Service were working on the site.
According to rescuers, residential buildings and the local history museum building were also hit. Eight people were reported injured. Three people were rescued from the damaged building.
Why the strike on the city center is important
Konotop is not a military base or a line of advance. The strike on a residential high-rise in the city center shows that Russian tactics are again built around pressure on the civilian population.
Such attacks are aimed not only at physical destruction. They are meant to instill fear, disrupt people’s normal lives, overload emergency services, and force entire cities to wake up to explosions instead of a regular morning.
Dnipro, Odesa, and southern Ukraine: casualties, warehouses, homes, and fires
In Dnipro, the Russian strike targeted civilian industrial facilities and the private sector. According to the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, Oleksandr Hanha, a food warehouse, private homes, and a car were damaged in the regional center.
As a result of the attack, two people were killed.
At least six more were injured to varying degrees. Five of the injured were hospitalized, with three of them in serious condition, according to medics.
This is a particularly telling detail: a strike on a food warehouse is not just property destruction. It’s a blow to logistics, supply, jobs, and urban resilience. Russia systematically attacks what helps civilian cities continue to live.
Odesa also experienced a night drone attack. Damage to residential buildings and cars was recorded in the city. In one area, a single-story building was completely destroyed after the strike, where a fire was then extinguished.
Additionally, a hit was recorded on the upper floors of a high-rise without detonation. According to regional authorities, a large warehouse with dishes and an unfinished high-rise building were damaged. Debris from downed targets fell on the territory of one of the city parks.
NANews — Israel News| Nikk.Agency notes: for the Israeli audience, the attacks on Odesa and Dnipro are not abstract geography. These are cities connected to many repatriates from Ukraine, the Ukrainian community in Israel, families, businesses, cultural memory, and personal stories.
Zaporizhzhia region: a two-year-old child injured
In the Zaporizhzhia region, Russian forces struck Volnyansk in the Zaporizhzhia district. The hit was on a residential quarter, a private house was destroyed, and a fire started after the strike. The blast wave and debris damaged neighboring houses and a car.
According to the head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, Ivan Fedorov, four people were injured: a man, women, and two children — a two-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl.
Local resident Zoryana said that her brother, who suffered many burns, was the most affected. According to her, her two-year-old nephew also received burns.
In total, seven people were injured in Zaporizhzhia over the day, including three children. According to the Regional Military Administration, Russian forces carried out 909 strikes on 42 settlements in the region. This figure includes airstrikes, drone attacks, FPV drone strikes, and shelling from MLRS and artillery.
The scale speaks for itself. This is not a ‘random episode’ or a single incident. This is a daily system of pressure on a region where civilians live under constant threat.
Kherson and Kharkiv regions: artillery, drones, and a deceased woman
The Kherson community was also under massive attacks. Under fire from Russian artillery and drones were Kherson, Sadove, Zelenivka, Antonivka, Zymovnyk, Kamyshany, Priozerne, and Naddnipryanske.
The head of the Kherson city military administration, Yaroslav Shanko, reported damage to private and multi-apartment buildings, civilian cars, enterprise territory, a store, a non-residential building, and a garage.
As a result of Russian attacks in the Kherson community, seven people were injured.
In the Kharkiv region, strikes also did not cease. At night, a Russian drone strike was recorded in the Novobavarsky district of Kharkiv. A 16-year-old girl was injured, diagnosed with an acute stress reaction.
During the day, Kharkiv and 21 other settlements in the region were under fire. One person was killed, six were injured, including a child among the victims.
In the village of Shevchenkove in the Kupiansk district, a 75-year-old woman was killed as a result of shelling. Three other local women were injured. Civilian injuries were also recorded in the villages of Spodobovka and Svetlychne.
According to the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov, Russia used various types of weapons in the region: ‘Geran-2’ drones, ‘Molniya’ drones, FPV drones, and other UAVs.
What this night shows
The night attack on May 20 was yet another example of Russian strategy, where civilian objects become a constant target. In one region, a high-rise is destroyed, in another, people die near food warehouses, in a third, a child receives burns after a strike on a private house.
For Ukraine, this is the daily cost of war.
For Israel, it is a reminder that the terrorist logic of different enemies is similar: attacking civilians, demonstratively destroying homes, trying to break society through fear and fatigue. That is why the Ukrainian war remains an important topic not only for Europe but also for the Middle East.
Russia has once again shown that its war is not only against the army. It is against cities, families, children, memory, and the very possibility of living a normal life.