Russia Hits Supermarket, Other Civilian Targets in Ukraine in Defiance of Peace Hopes

Despite ill-founded beliefs of some officials in Washington, DC, Russia is not heading toward ending its war against Ukraine but, on the contrary, it is intensifying its attacks by striking, of all so-called targets, a supermarket.

In a rare daytime attack, Russian forces struck on July 26 a supermarket in the northern city of Chernihiv, killing two people, including a 10-year-old girl. Another 25, including four other children, were injured, said Gov. Viacheslav Chaus, who announced a day of mourning for July 27.

The market was hit by a Russian Shahed-type Geran-4 drone, Volodymyr Tymoshko, head of the Chernihiv regional police, told the Ukrainian news outlet Suspilne. The drone was equipped with a video camera, indicating that Russia recognized the target and deliberately struck a civilian target in broad daylight.

“This indicates that these are not acts of war; they are acts of terrorism, acts of their senseless hatred toward everything associated with Ukrainian identity and Ukraine,” Tymoshko said. “In particular, their hatred toward any person, including civilians.”

Emergency response crews have completed their work at the attack sites, and all fires have been extinguished, the State Emergency Service said.

Russian forces continue launching deadly missile and drone strikes targeting civilian areas and infrastructure across Ukraine, resulting in over 15,000 documented civilian deaths and a sharp increase in casualties in densely populated urban centers far from the front lines.

The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission documented 1,396 civilians killed and 7,978 wounded in Ukraine during just the first six months of 2026.

Recent bombardments have repeatedly damaged apartment buildings, schools, medical facilities, and power networks, worsening conditions for non-combatants. [1, 2]

Ukrainian authorities and international monitors characterize these consistent long-range strikes on non-military zones as deliberate acts of terror and war crimes.

In another region of Ukraine, Russian forces have destroyed all gas stations along the highway between Poltava and Kharkiv, with the last one struck in the town of Valky on July 26, according to regional officials.

Over recent months, while Ukraine’s long-range strikes have caused a fuel crisis across Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine, with attacks on refineries, Russia has quietly been systematically targeting gas stations.

Speaking on live TV, Kharkiv Oblast Council member Oleksandr Skoryk urged motorists to plan to have sufficient fuel in reserve ahead of journeys along the affected part of the highway.

The stretch of road, part of the pan-European E40 highway, is also one of the two main logistics routes from Kyiv to front-line areas in eastern Ukraine.

According to Skoryk, of around 200 gas stations destroyed by Russian strikes in Ukraine, 80 were in Kharkiv Oblast.

For now, attacks on gas stations have failed to induce a larger fuel crisis in Ukraine, which has built up a modern and diversified fuel market.

A total of nine people were injured in northeastern Sumy Oblast, regional authorities said.

Three civilians were wounded in front-line Donetsk Oblast, including two in Kramatorsk and one more in the largely destroyed city of Dobropillia, Gov. Vadym Filashkin said.

Two civilians, including a six-year-old boy, were injured in Russian attacks on front-line Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, regional Gov. Oleksandr Hanzha said.

Russian attacks killed at least nine people and injured at least 69 across Ukraine over the past day as it continues a campaign of attacks on gas stations, local authorities said on July 28.

Chernihiv Oblast Gov. Viacheslav Chaus said that overnight on July 28 Russian forces damaged a gas station in Kholmy in a Gerbera drone strike. A 21-year-old local resident was injured in the attack.

Overall, in an overnight assault on July 28, Russian forces launched 131 drones across Ukraine, an Air Force spokesman said. It added that Ukrainian air defenses downed 107 drones over the north, south, center, and east of the country.

In eastern Donetsk Oblast, four people were killed and 19 others injured by Russian attacks over the past day, regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin said. In the city of Kramatorsk, seven people were injured in Russian air attacks, he added. Forty-three residential houses were damaged over the past day.

In southern Kherson Oblast, three people were killed, and 10 others were injured by Russian attacks over the past day, regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said.

In northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, one person was killed, and 12 others were injured over the past day, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said.

In the regional capital of Kharkiv, Saltivskyi and Kyivskyi districts came under attack, leaving two people with acute stress reactions and injuring a 49-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman, Syniehubov said.

Russian attacks on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast killed one person and injured seven people over the past day, Gov. Hanzha reported according to updates published on July 27 and July 28.

While these Russian strikes of attrition are meant to demoralize as well as kill innocent Ukrainian citizens, they have not had a psychologically debilitating effect on the people.