Russian drones killed four people overnight in eastern Ukraine, including a five-year-old child, local authorities said on Friday (January 23, 2026).

The attack on late Thursday (January 22, 2026) in the Donetsk region, which is a key aim for the Kremlin’s invading army, wounded five others and destroyed two homes, local prosecutors said.

“A 32-year-old man and his 5-year-old son were killed, as well as two of their neighbours,” prosecutors wrote in a statement on Telegram.

The mother survived the attack in the village of Cherkaske but was wounded alongside three teenage girls and a 34-year-old woman.

Moscow claimed to have annexed the industrial region in late 2022 despite not having full control over it.

It demands that Ukrainian troops must leave Donetsk as part of any peace deal to end its full-scale invasion launched almost four years ago.

Russia has had de-facto control over parts of the region and neighbouring Lugansk since throwing its military and political clout behind pro-Kremlin separatists that rose up more than a decade ago.