Ukraine’s Nikopol frequently comes under fire, and almost half of the town’s 100,000 residents left long ago for safety.
But these drones hit in the middle of Saturday morning – in a busy spot – and the number of casualties is high.
Two men were injured in a second strike on the same location, the prosecutor said, adding that the attacks were being investigated as a war crime.
Russia launched almost 300 drones against Ukraine again overnight, the Ukrainian air force said, and casualties were also reported in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and the northern Sumy region.
Meanwhile Moscow said it had shot down 85 Ukrainian drones.
Rostov regional governor Yuri Slyusar said the attack in Taganrog had caused a fire to break out in the premises of a logistics company in the city.
A Ukrainian defence ministry official blamed the casualties on “Russian air defence operations”.
Kyiv also reported two attacks on factories it said were used by the Russian military industrial complex.
The defence official said a “massive attack” was carried out on a plant in Togliatti that produced synthetic rubber and petrochemical raw materials.
Later Ukraine’s Security Service said drone strikes had halted production at the Alchevsk metallurgical plant in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine’s Luhansk region.
As a result of the attack, the second in a month, blast furnaces, production shops and other key areas of the factory were damaged, the agency said.
