Zelenskyy slams Russia after three generations killed in drone strike

Russian drone attack in Ukraine kills five, including a one-year-old baby, prompting President Zelenskyy to call for sanctions.

A Russian drone slammed into a residential house in central Ukraine overnight Thursday (June 5, 2025), killing three members of one family, including a one-year-old baby, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

He accused Moscow of trying to “buy time for itself to continue killing” and called for the West to put “maximum sanctions” and “pressure” on Moscow, after Russia has repeatedly rejected calls for a full and unconditional ceasefire.

A total of five people were killed in Pryluky, a city in central Ukraine, including victims from three generations of the same family.

A local firefighting chief was responding to an earlier attack when his own house was hit by a Russian drone, officials said.

“His wife, daughter and one-year-old grandson were killed,” Mr. Zelenskyy said.

Photos showed houses on fire, billowing grey smoke into the pitch black sky as rescuers battled the blaze.

A picture at dawn, published by the emergency services, showed a firefighter standing in the burned-out carcass of a residential home, the roof gone, surrounded by charred ashes and debris.