1,376 political violence events
1% decrease compared to last week
106 incidents of violence targeting civilians
25% increase compared to last week
At least 41 fatalities from civilian targeting
23% decrease compared to last week
Key trends
- Russian forces occupied four settlements in total: one southwest of Pokrovsk, another south of Kramatorsk, and one more north of Lyman in the Donetsk region, in addition to a settlement east of Borova in the Kharkiv region.
- ACLED records at least 29 Russian long-range missile and drone strikes, including in the Kyiv region and Kyiv city, the northern region of Zhytomyr, and the central regions of Poltava and Kirovohrad.
- Russian shelling, missiles, aerial bombs, and drones killed at least 32 civilians in the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa, Sumy, and Zaporizhia regions. Ukrainian shelling and drone strikes reportedly killed four civilians in occupied Horlivka in the Donetsk region.
Key events
- 1 May | Zaporizhia – Russian drones strike residential buildings in Zaporizhia city, killing one civilian and wounding 33
- 1 May | Odesa – Russian drones hit civilian infrastructure in Odesa city, killing two civilians and wounding 15
- 2 May | Kharkiv – Russian drones wound over 50 civilians in Kharkiv city
Spotlight: A suspected Russian intelligence agent attempts to kill an activist in Kyiv city
On 1 May, a woman reportedly recruited by Russian intelligence1Security Service of Ukraine, “SBU issued a notice of suspicion to the attacker on well-known volunteer and activist Serhiy Sternenko (video),” 2 May 2025 (Ukrainian) shot Serhii Sternenko outside his apartment in Kyiv city. He sustained a non-life-threatening injury; police detained the woman. Sternenko has been a prominent pro-Ukrainian activist since 2014 and one of the largest private suppliers of drones for the Ukrainian military — his charitable foundation has purchased over 176,000 drones since February 2022.2Kateryna Denisova, “Ukrainian activist, volunteer Sternenko injured in attack, suspect detained,” The Kyiv Independent, 6 May 2025 The assassination attempt was likely meant to coincide with the 11th anniversary of the Odesa Trade Union building fire3Yaroslava Tymoshchuk, “Attempted murder of Sternenko: why are there attacks on activists in Ukraine and what does Russia have to do with it?” Radio Free Europe, 2 May 2025 (Ukrainian), when pro-Ukrainian football fans set ablaze an encampment of pro-Russian activists following an ambush and clashes. The fire killed 42 people, in addition to six people who were killed by firearms.4United Nations, “7 years with no answers. What is lacking in the investigations of the events in Odesa on 2 May 2014?” 30 April 2021 In a recent judgment, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Ukrainian authorities for failing to stop the outbreak of violence, rescue people trapped inside the building, and conduct an effective investigation.5European Court of Human Rights, “Judgment concerning Ukraine,” 13 March 2025 Sternenko, then the head of the local branch of the nationalist Right Sector party, was one of the several thousand pro-Ukrainian participants in the 2014 clashes in Odesa, which Russia frequently propagandizes to dehumanize pro-Ukrainian activists.6Meduza, “The making of a myth. How Russian media uses a 2014 fire in Odesa to justify the war on Ukraine,” 8 May 2024 Since then, he actively protested against illegal construction in Odesa, advocated for police reform, and disrupted concerts of Russian and pro-Russian artists.7Sonya Lukashova, “Maidan, drugs, Avakov and other wars of Serhiy Sternenko,” Ukrainska Pravda, 19 May 2020 (Ukrainian) In 2018, Sternenko survived three attacks and accused the local Odesa authorities of being behind them.8New Voice, “Three attacks on Serhiy Sternenko. What is known about the ex-head of the Odesa Right Sector,” 30 May 2018 (Ukrainian) Two years after the last of these attacks, Sternenko was charged with killing one of his attackers, which led to a trial that was discontinued in December 2023.9Oleksandr Kunytskyi, “Attack on Sternenko: activist underwent surgery,” Deutsche Welle, 1 May 2025 (Ukrainian)
The recent attack on Sternenko is one of dozens of similar incidents reported in both Ukraine and Russia since the start of the war in 2022. On 14 March, an AWOL Ukrainian soldier shot dead an activist and volunteer in Odesa. Meanwhile, throughout April, car explosions killed the Ukrainian head of the Left Bank Administration of the Dnipro City Council, a Russian general in Moscow, and the head of a Russian design bureau working on developing electronic warfare for suppressing drones and his assistant in Bryansk.
Explore the ACLED Conflict Exposure tool to assess the numbers of people affected by armed violence, disaggregated by locations, time period, and actors involved.
