Kyiv, 05 April (H.S.):

Russia hammered Ukraine with 286 drones overnight, killing at least five civilians and wounding over 30 in strikes on cities including Nikopol and Sumy, even as President Volodymyr Zelensky pursued diplomacy in Istanbul.

Ukraine's Air Force downed 260 drones, with 11 striking targets and debris damaging six more areas. In Dnipropetrovsk's Nikopol, a market attack claimed three women and two men, injuring 19—including a 14-year-old girl—and ravaging stalls and shops, per regional head Oleksandr Hanzha.

Sumy saw 11 wounded, including a teenager, from residential hits that torched homes, cars, and utilities. Kyiv's drone strike ignited a three-storey office-warehouse's first floor, but caused no casualties. National Police confirmed the toll amid Zelensky's meetings with Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed precision strikes on Ukrainian military-industrial and energy sites, downing 85 Ukrainian drones over nine regions, annexed Crimea, and the Black Sea. Retaliation hit Russia's Rostov (one dead, four hurt; warehouse and foreign-flagged ship fires) and Samara (one injured, apartment damage).

The Easter escalation—as Zelensky dubbed it—intensifies attrition warfare, straining Ukraine's defenses during fragile peace feelers.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar