On 3 May, Russian forces struck a residential quarter of Dnipro, Ukraine, damaging a dormitory building. Two people were injured: a 24-year-old man hospitalized in moderate condition and a 37-year-old woman treated at the scene. Residents were sheltering in the basement at the time and are being evacuated. The attack is part of ongoing Russian strikes on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.

Russian forces shelled and attacked the Nikopol region of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with drones and artillery, injuring five people including a police officer whose vehicle was deliberately targeted by an FPV drone. Over 150 strikes were recorded across five communities, damaging homes and vehicles. The attacks targeted Nikopol city and the Pokrovske, Marhanets, Chervonohryhorivka, and Myrove hromadas.

On 3 May, a Russian Shahed-type drone struck the entrance of a nine-story apartment building in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, causing a fire that was extinguished and shattering windows. A storage room burned. Five people were hospitalized: two children with smoke inhalation and three adults with acute stress reactions. Emergency services responded and evacuated residents. The attack highlights ongoing Russian drone strikes on civilian infrastructure in southern Ukraine.

Russian forces attacked Kryvyi Rih, hitting a high-rise building and causing a fire. Emergency rescue and firefighting operations are ongoing. The Ukrainian Air Force reported a drone threat.

Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (USF), led by Commander Robert Brovdi, conducted a series of long-range drone strikes in early May 2025 against Russian military assets in occupied Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk regions. Targets included a Pantsir-S1 air defense system in Novyi Svit, a Tor missile system in Markivka, two P-18 radar stations, a telecommunications center in Mariupol, deployment points of the Rubikon and Storm units, a repair base in Kadiivka, and six airspace control systems. The strikes aim to degrade Russian logistics and air defenses, reflecting Ukraine's increasing reliance on drone warfare.

The Russian military is evolving its battlefield approach, moving from mass infantry assaults to small-team infiltration tactics using groups of two to four soldiers moving at night with minimal communication to exploit vulnerabilities in Ukrainian lines. In response, the Ukrainian General Staff has introduced a mandatory two-month rotation policy for frontline infantry to counter exhaustion and sustain defensive operations.

Russian forces launched massive drone attacks on the village of Inzhenerne in the Kherson region over two days, using over 100 UAVs. A five-story building was damaged, a fire broke out in an apartment building, and two people were injured, one seriously. This attack highlights continued Russian strikes on civilian settlements in southern Ukraine.

On May 3, Russian forces used a UAV to attack a civilian car in the Dniprovskyi district of Kherson, killing a 60-year-old man and injuring five others. A subsequent drone strike damaged an ambulance, though medics were unharmed. Ukrainian authorities have opened a war crimes investigation under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

In Bilopillia, Sumy region, a Russian FPV drone attacked a police car, destroying the vehicle and seriously injuring two law enforcement officers. One officer is in extremely critical condition. The attack highlights ongoing drone warfare targeting Ukrainian infrastructure and personnel.

Russian forces shelled the Krasnopillia community in Ukraine's Sumy region, killing a 45-year-old man and injuring 18 people, including a 2-year-old child. The attack damaged residential buildings, infrastructure, vehicles, a community center, an educational institution, and a store. This incident underscores the ongoing threat to civilians in border regions from Russian artillery and drone strikes.