Russian Airstrike in Eastern Ukraine Kills Father and Son

A Russian airstrike in eastern Ukraine killed a father and his son early Monday morning in a town near the front lines, local authorities reported.

The attack struck Oleksievo-Druzhkivka, an industrial town in the Donetsk region, shortly after midnight. Police confirmed that a 44-year-old man and his 23-year-old son died in the strike. The man’s 42-year-old wife and two other children were wounded.

According to officials, the family had evacuated the Donetsk region last November but returned just one month later. Oleksievo-Druzhkivka, once home to around 7,000 people, lies roughly 15 kilometers from the current frontline in a region that has seen heavy fighting since Russia’s full-scale invasion began nearly four years ago.

Regional Governor Vadym Filashkin expressed condolences on social media, noting his frustration that the parents “consciously made the decision to leave a region far from the front and bring their children back under enemy bombs.”

Local authorities have repeatedly urged residents to evacuate frontline areas and have occasionally reported on civilians who returned only to be killed in subsequent attacks.

Russia has controlled parts of the Donetsk region since 2014, when separatist forces seized territory following Ukraine’s pro-democracy protests. The conflict escalated into a full-scale war on February 24, 2022.