Russian drone strike kills six including toddler in Ukrainian park

A Russian drone strike on a park in Nova Vodolaha, Kharkiv Oblast, killed six people, including a one-year-old girl, her mother and an 11-year-old girl; at least 15 others were injured, including children. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack and urged continued sanctions and stronger air defenses. In Kyiv Oblast, a drone crash near a petrol station killed one person and injured six, while a separate strike near the Kyiv–Odesa road killed three and injured four; strikes also hit a shopping centre in Mykolaiv Oblast, causing further casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure. UN monitors reported 328 civilian deaths and 2,105 injuries in September, an 85% increase from the same month last year, bringing the verified toll for the first nine months of 2026 to 2,570 dead and 15,211 wounded. Zelenskyy warned that Ukraine was running short of Patriot interceptors and said delays in weapons and intelligence support were leaving the country vulnerable as he sought more help from U.S. and European partners.