Ukraine war latest: Russian attacks kill 15, injure 118 across Ukraine, as casualties rise from morning strike on Dnipro

Key developments on June 29:

• Ukraine reveals new figures for North Korean troop losses in Russia's Kursk Oblast
• Ukraine claims strikes on bridges, Russian command posts and logistics
• 154th Mechanized Brigade's commander found dead, military say

Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured at least 118 others over the past day, regional authorities reported on June 29, as the death toll rose from a Russian morning attack on Dnipro.

The Air Force said Russia launched 108 drones against Ukraine overnight, of which it reported downing 82.

The morning Russian attack on the central-eastern city of Dnipro killed at least five people and injured 28, of whom four are in critical condition, regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said. The local authorities have not yet said what weapon Russian troops used to hit the city, located over 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) from the front lines.

In southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, six people were killed, and 34 people were wounded by Russian attacks over the past day, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said. The casualties include those killed and wounded in a morning Russian attack on a minibus, which led to two deaths and six injuries, including a child, according to Fedorov.

In northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, two people were killed and 25 people, including two children, were wounded by Russian attacks over the past day, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said. The two children wounded in a village south of Kharkiv are a 10-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy, the governor said.

In northeastern Sumy Oblast, at least two people were killed, and nine others were wounded by Russian attacks over the past day, the regional military administration said.

In northern Chernihiv Oblast, a Russian drone attack hit a gas station, injuring one of the workers there, regional governor Viacheslav Chaus said.

In eastern Donetsk Oblast, at least seven people were wounded by Russian attacks over the past day, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said.

In southern Kherson Oblast, 14 people were wounded by Russian attacks over the past day, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

Ukraine reveals new figures for North Korean troop losses in Russia's Kursk Oblast

North Korean troops took over 7,000 casualties while fighting alongside Russia to push back Ukrainian forces from Russia's Kursk Oblast in 2024-2025, the Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) claimed.

HUR's claimed figure surpasses the previous South Korean and British intelligence assessment, which estimated a total of about 6,000 casualties for North Korean troops, both killed and injured, in Kursk Oblast.

The claimed losses come from the months during the August 2024-March 2025 Ukrainian cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk Oblast, where Ukrainian troops held swathes of territories in a surprise high-stakes operation until the complicated logistics forced them to withdraw. The Kyiv Independent was unable to independently verify the claim. Though initially unprepared for modern drone warfare, the North Korean troops adapted quickly and showed discipline as they fought, Ukrainian soldiers who fought in Kursk Oblast told the Kyiv Independent then.

Pyongyang has not commented on how many casualties its troops have taken in Russia.

"The North Korean regime is trying to conceal the actual losses that its army units suffered in the war against the Ukrainian Defense Forces," HUR said in a statement to the Kyiv Independent in late June.

The latest casualty count comes as Russia and North Korea deepen their military cooperation, two years after the two authoritarian regimes signed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement, a pledge to provide aid to one another if either is attacked. Heavily isolated by Western nations over the war in Ukraine and by the sanctions imposed, the two nations that possess nuclear weapons have grown closer to assist each other, keeping the West alarmed.

Ukraine claims strikes on bridges, Russian command posts and logistics

Ukraine struck three bridges, a Russian military logistics warehouse, multiple drone command posts, and military communications facilities in a series of strikes, Ukraine's General Staff said on June 29.

The strikes were carried out "to reduce the military and economic potential of the Russian aggressor," according to the statement.

According to the General Staff, Ukrainian forces struck a road bridge near occupied Novoazovsk in Donetsk Oblast and two railway bridges in occupied Luhansk Oblast. It said said Russian forces use the bridges to transport personnel, weapons, ammunition, and other military supplies to the front.

Ukraine also reported striking a Russian logistics warehouse near occupied Novosvitlivka in Luhansk Oblast.

In addition, Ukrainian forces targeted three Russian drone command posts near Huliaipole in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Tyotkino in Russia's Kursk Oblast, and occupied Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast, as well as an electronic warfare command post near Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk Oblast.

The General Staff also said additional analysis had also confirmed the destruction of one military communications facility and significant damage to another near Minyaevo in Russia's Moscow Oblast following a Ukrainian strike on June 26.

"The Defense Forces of Ukraine will continue to systematically disrupt the command-and-control system, military logistics, and support infrastructure of the Russian aggressor," the General Staff added.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the extent of the damage.

154th Mechanized Brigade's commander found dead, military say

he commander of Ukraine's 154th Separate Mechanized Brigade, Colonel Volodymyr Kononnikov, was found dead on June 28, Ukrainian military and law enforcement authorities said.

Ukraine's Operational Command South reported Kononnikov's death earlier in the day, saying the circumstances were under investigation.

"Colonel Volodymyr Kononnikov was an officer devoted to Ukraine and the military, a responsible commander who cared about the personnel and needs of his unit," the command said in its Facebook statement, adding that the command staff and personnel expressed their condolences to his family and friends.

Zaporizhzhia regional police later reported that a commander of a military unit had been found dead with a gunshot wound, without naming Konnikov specifically. Authorities did not disclose the circumstances surrounding the death or identify a suspected cause.

Investigators have opened a criminal case under Article 115 of Ukraine's Criminal Code, which covers intentional homicide.