Overnight Russian attacks across Ukraine kill one, wound more than 30
KYIV (Reuters) -Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight, killing one civilian and wounding more than 30 people in the centre, south, and northeast, Ukrainian officials said on Friday.
The Russian forces launched 92 drones and five missiles at 12 Ukrainian regions, the Ukrainian air force said. Sixty-two drones and four missiles were downed and 26 drones were “lost”, most likely meaning they had been thwarted electronically.
The Interior Ministry said one person had been killed in the Odesa region, where civilian infrastructure and homes were damaged and nine people were injured.
Four people were wounded in a drone attack on the Kyiv region and at least six houses and several cars were damaged, it said.
Kyiv and surrounding region have been under Russian drone attacks almost every night recently. On Thursday, a high-rise in the capital where Estonian ambassador Annely Kolk lives was hit, Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said.
“She was lucky not to be harmed. No one is safe in Ukraine until Russia stops its aggression. Ukraine needs more air defence to protect its residents,” Tsahkna said on X.
Russia also pounded the city of Kharkiv in the northeast with guided bombs, wounding at least 25 people, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy issued a fresh appeal to Kyiv’s allies to help strengthen its air defences.
“Air defence, long-range capabilities, weapons packages, sanctions against the aggressor – this is the answer that is needed, not only in words, but also in actions,” he said on the Telegram messaging app.
Russia has intensified its air attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns, sending swarms of drones.
Ukrainian officials say Russia is trying to stretch Ukraine’s air defences and demoralise the civilian population as the war nears the 1,000-day mark and Moscow’s troops advance in the east.
Russia launched more than 2,000 attack drones at civilian and military targets in October, Ukraine’s military said.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Kevin Liffey and Angus MacSwan)
