Russia launched an overnight drone attack on Ukraine on Saturday and hit critical energy infrastructure facilities in two regions in the country’s north, officials said. Ukrainian air defence shot down 13 of 17 Russian drones over five regions in the east, north, and centre of the country, the air force said. One of the Shahed drones hit an energy facility in the Sumy region while another struck a site in the Chernihiv region, regional officials said.
Repair teams were rushed to the sites of the strikes, they said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Russian forces have stepped up missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure since March, knocking out about half of the available energy generation and forcing extended blackouts for millions.
A Russian missile hit a children’s playground in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv on Friday, killing a child and two adults, and injuring five others, officials said. “A playground near an ordinary house… Every day Russia proves with its terror that pressure on it is not enough,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated. He posted images from the site that showed two bodies lying on the ground. One was the badly mutilated body of a child, covered in blood, dust and debris. Part of a missile lay alongside.
The port city of Mykolaiv and the surrounding region regularly come under Russian attacks. Vitaliy Kim, the regional governor, hailed residents of the city who rushed to the site to help before medics arrived. Writing on Telegram he said another missile had landed elsewhere in the region. Moscow denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure in its invasion of Ukraine. Thousands of people have been killed and injured in its attacks.
Ukraine desperately seeks ammunition for Patriot air defence system, National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), Stinger anti-aircraft missiles from the United States. he U.S. will reprioritize planned deliveries of foreign military sales of Patriot and other missiles to go to Ukraine, which is in тАЬdesperate needтАЭ of more air defense capabilities amid its ongoing war with Russia.
(With inputs from Reuters)
