Russian forces conducted a series of drone strikes against Ukraine overnight on April 6 to 7.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russian forces launched 110 Shahed-type, Gerbera-type, Italmas-type, and other drones — of which about 70 were Shaheds — from the directions of Bryansk and Oryol cities; Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Krasnodar Krai; and occupied Hvardiiske and Cape Chauda, Crimea.[85] The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Ukrainian forces downed 77 drones, that 31 drones struck 14 locations, and that drone debris fell at nine locations. Ukrainian officials reported that Russian forces struck energy, transport, and administrative infrastructure in Chernihiv Oblast.[86]
Ukraine is preparing to withstand potential Russian strikes against water supply infrastructure in the future. Ukrainian State Agency for Infrastructure Restoration and Development Head Serhiy Sukhomlyn stated on April 7 that the agency is constructing 17 facilities in an unspecified large regional center to protect heat and water supply infrastructure against potential future Russian drone strikes.[87] Sukhomlyn stated that the protections will be available throughout Ukraine. Sukhomlyn stated that the Ukrainian Ministry of Communities and Territorial Development is building protected pumping stations on barges to supply cities with water from the Dnipro or Dniester rivers in the event of a Russian strike on water infrastructure. Ukrainian officials have recently warned that Russian forces will likely shift their long-range strike campaign toward Ukrainian water supply and logistics targets in Spring-Summer 2026 following their campaign against energy infrastructure in Winter 2025-2026.[88]
Russian forces continue to conduct drone strikes intentionally targeting civilians in southern Ukraine, weaponizing civilian harm as an intentional tool of war. Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration Head Oleksandr Hanzha reported on April 7 that Russian forces conducted an FPV drone strike against a city bus in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, killing at least four civilians and injuring at least 24 others.[1] Hanzha later reported on April 7 that Russian forces conducted another strike against a civilian bus in Chervonohryhorivka Hromada (east of Nikopol), injuring at least five civilians.[2] Russian forces have been routinely striking civilian targets in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast since February 2022, with the most recent instances including a drone strike against a market in Nikopol on April 4 that killed five civilians and injured 28 others.[3] ISW continues to assess that Russian forces pervasively employ human safari tactics — the deliberate tactic of using FPV drones to search for and strike civilian targets — in southern Ukraine using tactical drones, especially FPV drones, to strike civilians and civilian infrastructure.[4] Russian forces have also integrated intentional civilian harm into their wider operation battlefield air interdiction (BAI) template by using FPVs to strike mainly civilian targets in the Ukrainian near rear in order to stop all use of given roads. Traditional BAI focuses strikes on military objects and dual-use infrastructure but does not specifically target civilian objects.[5] The intentional use of civilian harm as a tool of war is a war crime.
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Ukrainian air defenses shot down or suppressed 114 of 141 drones launched by Russia overnight on April 6, including around 80 Shahed UAVs. Impacts were recorded at 17 locations, with debris falling at 13 sites.
Ukrainian forces struck oil infrastructure in Leningrad Oblast and a defense industrial plant in Voronezh Oblast overnight on April 6 to 7. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces struck the Ust-Luga oil terminal near Slobodka, Leningrad Oblast, damaging three Transneft-Baltika oil tanks.[15] Leningrad Oblast Governor Alexander Drozhdenko claimed that Russian forces downed 22 drones over the oblast, and footage published on April 7 shows fires at the port of Ust-Luga.[16] The April 6 to 7 strike was the fifth Ukrainian strike against Russian oil infrastructure in and near Ust-Luga since the night of March 24 to 25.[17] Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation Head Lieutenant Andriy Kovalenko, who frequently reports on successful Ukrainian strikes, reported that recent Ukrainian strikes have damaged at least 30 percent of oil storage tanks at the port.[18]
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Russian opposition outlet Astra reported that Ukrainian forces also struck the Minudobreniya chemical plant in Rossosh, Voronezh Oblast, overnight and assessed that the strike caused a fire at a warehouse.[19] The Minudobreniya chemical plant is one of Russia’s largest producers of ammonium nitrate, a component of explosives, with a production capacity of over 550,000 tons per year.[20] A Ukrainian open-source intelligence project reported that the strike damaged the main fertilizer storage building.[21] Voronezh Oblast Governor Alexander Gusev acknowledged that Ukrainian forces struck a warehouse in the oblast, causing a fire.[22]
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Ukrainian sources continue to provide battle damage assessments (BDAs) for recent strikes against Russian oil and defense industrial assets. The Ukrainian General Staff reported on April 7 that Ukrainian strikes against oil infrastructure in the port of Primorsk, Leningrad Oblast, on April 4 to 5 damaged three RVSP-20000 oil tanks, each with a capacity of 20,000 cubic meters, and ignited oil products.[23] The Ukrainian General Staff reported that the April 4 to 5 strikes also damaged two primary crude oil processing units and a unit producing petroleum bitumen at the Lukoil-Nizhegorodnefteorgsintez refinery in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast. A Ukrainian open-source intelligence project published satellite imagery on April 7 showing damage to the Tolyattikauchuk chemical plant in Tolyatti, Samara Oblast, following Ukrainian strikes on April 3 to 4.[24] The Ukrainian project assessed that the strikes damaged the BK-4 high-purity isobutylene production plant, disrupting the plant’s ability to produce synthetic rubber.
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- Russian forces continue to conduct drone strikes intentionally targeting civilians in southern Ukraine, weaponizing civilian harm as an intentional tool of war.
- The Kremlin continues to set conditions for possible future aggression against the Baltic states.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated Ukraine’s willingness to conduct a ceasefire over the Easter holiday and/or a ceasefire on energy infrastructure strikes.
- The Kremlin is reportedly considering replacing three Russian governors ahead of the September 2026 elections.
- Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Slovyansk direction.
- Ukrainian forces struck oil infrastructure in Leningrad Oblast and a defense industrial plant in Voronezh Oblast.
- Russian forces launched 110 drones against Ukraine.
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**General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine**
*Operational update as of 10:00 PM on April 7, 2026, regarding the Russian invasion*
A total of 128 combat engagements have taken place since the start of this day.
The enemy carried out 43 airstrikes and dropped 145 guided bombs. Additionally, they deployed 4,878 kamikaze drones and fired 2,321 rounds at populated areas and our troops’ positions.
- - In the Northern Slobozhansky and Kursk directions, the Defense Forces repelled six enemy attacks; the enemy carried out 60 shelling attacks on our troops’ positions and populated areas, including two using multiple launch rocket systems, and launched an airstrike using one guided bomb.
- - In the Southern Slobozhansky direction, the enemy twice stormed the positions of our units in the areas of the settlements of Vovchansk and Lyman.
- - In the Kupyansk direction, our defenders successfully repelled five enemy assaults in the areas of the settlements of Kurylivka, Petropavlivka, and Pishchane.
- - In the Lyman direction, Ukrainian soldiers repelled one attempt by the invaders to advance toward the settlement of Tverdokhlibove.
- - In the Sloviansk direction, Ukrainian soldiers repelled seven assaults by the occupiers toward Rai-Oleksandrivka, Riznykivka, and Ozerny.
- - In the Kramatorsk sector, the enemy did not launch any attacks.
- - Defense forces successfully repelled 26 enemy assaults in the Kostyantynivka sector, near Kostyantynivka, Pleshchiivka, Illinivka, Stepanivka, Ivanopil, Rusyno Yar, and Sofiivka.
- - In the Pokrovsk direction, the enemy launched 24 attacks. The occupiers attempted to advance in the areas around the settlements of Bilytske, Rodynske, Myrnohrad, Rivne, Pokrovsk, Udachne, Hryshyne, Dachne, Filiya, Muravka, and Novopavlivka. One engagement is still ongoing.
According to preliminary estimates, 93 occupiers were eliminated and 64 wounded in this sector today; one artillery piece, five enemy vehicles, and four units of special equipment were destroyed; one tank, three artillery pieces, ten vehicles, and three enemy infantry shelters were damaged. A total of 405 unmanned aerial vehicles of various types were destroyed or neutralized.
- - In the Oleksandrivka sector, the occupiers attempted to improve their position ten times, launching attacks in the areas of the settlements of Sosnivka, Andriivka-Klevtsove, Kalynivske, Sichneve, and Vorone. The outskirts of the settlement of Velykomykhailivka were subjected to airstrikes.
- - In the Huliaipole direction, the occupiers carried out 23 attacks in the areas of the settlements of Dobropillia, Tsvitkove, Varvarivka, Huliaipole, Sviatopetrivka, Pryluky, Hirke, Olenokostiantynivka, and Zaliznychne. The enemy carried out airstrikes in the Vozdvyzhensky and Tavriysky districts.
- - In the Orikhiv direction, the enemy carried out airstrikes on the area around the settlement of Tavriyske.
- - In the Dnipro direction, our defenders successfully repelled five assaults in the direction of the Antonivsky Bridge. The settlement of Stepanivka was hit by guided bombs.
- - In other areas, there have been no significant changes in the situation.
Let’s defeat the enemy and bring our victory closer!
Glory to Ukraine!
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