New Delhi, Aug. 24 -- Two children were dead by midday in this southern Russian city, killed at a private children's center in a drone strike timed to Ukraine's most important national holiday. The 35th anniversary of Ukraine's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union brought not just parades in Kyiv, but the Kremlin's most pointed public warning of the conflict so far.

two children dead, seven injured, after a Ukrainian drone struck the center during what he described as a coordinated wave of attacks across the Krasnodar region. Emergency services worked through the afternoon at the site.

Dmitry Peskov, speaking for the Kremlin, chose his words carefully. "You yourselves opened Pandora's box," he said, invoking Vladimir Putin'...