Russia Strikes Ukraine with Drone and Missile Barrage, Killing 4 People

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RKS NEWS 3 Min Read
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KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – At least four people were killed overnight as Russian drone and missile attacks continued to strike Ukrainian cities and settlements, local officials said on Saturday. Meanwhile, Moscow’s troops maintained their intense push across eastern Ukraine. A Russian missile strike on an apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Poltava killed at least three people and injured 10 others, Ukraine’s emergency services reported.

Around 21 people were rescued from the five-story building, which partially collapsed after the attack, said Volodymyr Kohut, the acting governor of Poltava. Rescue teams remain at the scene. Elsewhere, a 60-year-old woman was killed by debris from a downed drone in the Kharkiv region, local governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote on social media.

The bombardment comes as Russian forces continue their months-long campaign to seize key strongholds in Donetsk, including Pokrovsk and Chasiv Yar, fighting through farmland and forests, and involving small rural settlements. “Last night, Russia launched an attack on our cities using various types of weapons: missiles, attack drones, and aerial bombs,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media on Saturday.

“Every act of terror like this proves that we need greater support for protection against Russian terror. Every air defense system, every interceptor missile means a life saved.” The large-scale war between Russia and Ukraine, which began nearly three years ago and shows no signs of ending, has killed more than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations.

Many of them have been evacuated from areas along the front line, which stretches nearly 1,000 kilometers (600 miles), where Ukraine’s defense is stretched thin, trying to keep Russia’s larger army at bay.

Civilians have also endured hardships caused by Russian attacks on the power grid, which have left them without heat and running water. Saturday’s missile strike caused emergency power shutdowns in seven regions of Ukraine, including Poltava, according to the state energy company Ukrenergo.

Ukrainian strikes also hit Russia, with air defenses downing nine drones in the regions of Bryansk, Belgorod, and Saratov, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday morning.

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