Zelenskyy Renews Call For International Pressure After Russian Strike Kills 3 Generations At Single Residence

A Russian air strike killed at least five people, including members of three generations from the same family, in the northern Ukrainian city of Pryluky, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to renew calls for the international community to exert "all available means" of pressure on Moscow to bring about a cease-fire.

Officials said six drones hit a residential area in Pryluky shortly before dawn on June 5, killing a mother, her 1-year-old son, and his grandmother as the father was out performing rescue work at another site hit by the attack.

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5

3 Generations Of A Family Killed As Russia Hits Ukrainian Cities

"Russia constantly tries to buy time to continue its killings. When it doesn't feel strong enough condemnation and pressure from the world -- it kills again," Zelenskyy said in a social media post, noting 632 children had been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

"We expect action from the United States, Europe, and everyone in the world who can really help change these terrible circumstances. Strength matters, and the war can only end through strength. Moscow must be pressured by all available means and gradually deprived of its ability to continue this aggression."

Ukrainian officials said other overnight Russian attacks struck the major Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, and Kherson, leaving at least three people dead and scores more injured, including four children.

Liliya, a Kherson resident, told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that the attack hit her neighbor's yard. "It happened fast and was very loud," she said.

"There was nowhere to hide.... When we went out, there was a lot of huge debris and shattered glass all over the street," Liliya added.

Oleksandr Prokudin, governor of the Kherson region, said a Russian missile strike destroyed the regional administration building. According to local media reports, Russian forces damaged the building in the early morning hours before guiding another missile to completely destroy it.

The attacks followed a phone call between President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, where the Russian leader warned "very strongly" of Russia's intention to respond to a Ukrainian drone attack over the weekend on military facilities and railway infrastructure.

According to Trump, the call lasted 75 minutes, and Ukraine's surprise drone attack, carried out by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) on June 1, was one of the topics discussed.

"We discussed the attack on Russia's docked airplanes by Ukraine, and also various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides," Trump said.

"Putin did say, and very strongly, that he will have to respond to the recent attack on the airfields," he added.

Trump has been pushing the two sides to reach a cease-fire agreement after making it a foreign policy priority during the campaign that saw him win back the White House in a November 2024 election.

Russian and Ukrainian delegations met on June 2 in Istanbul -- only the second round of face-to-face negotiations between the two sides in more than three years -- that failed to move the peace process forward.

Leaders from several Western nations and many military analysts have accused Putin of not seriously seeking a peace deal, instead dragging the process out to ward off US sanctions while gaining ground on the battlefield.

Colonel Pavlo Palisa, a Ukrainian military officer, told reporters in Washington on June 4 that Russia has set a goal of establishing the buffer zone by the end of the year and wants to seize the entirety of Donetsk and Luhansk by the end of September.

"It's interesting, but they have plans even for 2026. The plan for next year is to occupy the whole part of Ukraine which is situated on the left bank of the Dnipro River," he said after briefing US lawmakers and officials.

Another goal is to cut off Ukraine's Black Sea access, he said.

Palisa, who is deputy head of Zelenskyy's office, was part of a Ukrainian delegation that was in Washington as Kyiv pushes for stronger pressure against Moscow. He presented what he said were findings from Ukrainian military intelligence.