Drone strike kills UN aid worker in the eastern Congo city of Goma

GOMA, Congo (AP) — A series of explosions attributed to drones killed at least one person, a U.N. aid worker, as the attack on the Wednesday rocked downtown Goma in eastern Congo, according to the M23 rebel group and local residents.

The drone strikes hit Lake Kivu and a private residence located about 50 meters (164 feet) from the home of former Congo President Joseph Kabila Kabange.

M23 blamed the government for the attack. The government didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. The rebel group said that the attack killed three people, but the number couldn't be immediately confirmed. Residents said they only had seen a single body.

Karine Buisset, a French national and a UNICEF employee, was in the residence and killed in the attack, M23 and residents said.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell confirmed Buisset's death in a post on X.

“All of us at UNICEF are devastated and outraged by the killing,” Russell said. “Civilians, including aid workers, must never be targeted.”

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed condolences to the victim's family.

“I call for respect for humanitarian law and for the personnel on the ground who are committed to saving lives," he wrote on X.

Since January 2025, conflicts have flared between the Congolese armed forces and the Rwanda-backed M23 after the group swept through the eastern region in lightning attacks and seized key cities. A drone strike in February killed a spokesperson and senior official deeply involved in the operations of the rebel group.

The conflict, which has raged on despite a truce brokered by the United States and Qatar, has sparked a huge humanitarian crisis, with at least 7 million people displaced.

UNICEF staff members mourn at the home of their colleague who was killed in a drone strike in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

A man stands in a house hit by a drone strike in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

People clear a house hit by a drone strike in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

U.N peacekeepers guard a house hit by a drone strike in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

A house damaged by a drone strike in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seeking details of a short-term ceasefire Russia proposed to U.S. President Donald Trump, he said in a post on Telegram on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a May 9 ceasefire to coincide with Victory Day in Russia in a phone call with Trump the previous day, according to the Kremlin.

“We have instructed our representatives to contact the United States president’s team and clarify the details of the Russian proposal for a short-term ceasefire,” Zelenskyy said.

Meanwhile, Russian attacks overnight killed one person in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro and wounded dozens more in the southern port city of Odesa, as Ukraine continued to strike industrial facilities inside Russian territory for a second day in a row.

A ship that created a brief diplomatic scuffle between Israel and Ukraine has departed Israel without unloading what Zelenskyy said were grains Russia stole from occupied areas of Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said.

Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov said that the Russian president had discussed a ceasefire for the May 9 holiday, when Russia celebrates victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, during a phone call with Trump Wednesday.

But Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that no definite decision had been made, and that it would be for Putin to decide on the specific terms.

“For now, no concrete decision has been made,” Peskov said.

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is proposing a longer-term ceasefire. “We will find out exactly what is being discussed, whether it’s a few hours of security for a parade in Moscow or something more," he said in a post on Telegram.

The ship that Ukrainian officials said was carrying stolen grain had anchored close to the Haifa port for several days, but departed from Israel on Thursday morning, according to MarineTraffic.com, which tracks ships.

The Israel Grain Importers Association said that the country’s largest grain import company rejected the shipment, due to the sensitive situation with Ukraine, Israeli media reported. “The Russian supplier of the wheat cargo will be forced to find another destination to unload the cargo,” the association said.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the development was welcome.

“This demonstrates that Ukraine’s legal and diplomatic actions have been effective,” he said in a post on X.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had threatened sanctions against Israel on Tuesday if the vessel unloaded. Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said earlier in the week that the country’s tax authority had opened an investigation into the ship.

In Dnipro, a drone attack killed one person and injured five, Dnipropetrovsk regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said in a post on Telegram. He said a shop, a residential building and vehicles were damaged.

In Odesa, region head Oleh Kiper said Russian forces launched waves of drone attacks on residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in Odesa overnight, wounding 20 people.

He added that Ukrainian air defenses had downed many of the incoming targets but hits and falling debris damaged residential buildings, a hotel, a kindergarten and an administrative building. They also caused fires at several locations which were later extinguished.

Units of Ukraine's Security Service, or SBU, struck Russia's Perm region in the Ural Mountains for a second day in a row, according to a security official.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, said the drone attack disrupted the Lukoil-Permnefteorgsintez refinery, located over 1,500 kilometers from Ukraine.

Gov. Dmitry Makhonin said an industrial facility was hit, and there were no casualties or any significant damage. He didn’t provide any further details.

Separately, Krasnodar regional governor Veniamin Kondtratyev said in an online statement that a fire caused by a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian oil refinery at the Black Sea port of Tuapse has been put out after raging for almost two days, with oil products spilling out on the streets of the city.

Ukraine’s Navy said it struck two Russian vessels in the Kerch Strait using sea drones overnight into Thursday.

It said as a result of the strike, a Russian patrol boat called “Sobol” and another vessel named “Grachonok” were hit.

The Kerch bridge which was completed in 2018 links mainland Russia to the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy makes statements as he arrives for the EU Summit in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)