News Desk
KYIV: Russian drone and missile strikes had killed at least 15 people and injured dozens more across several regions of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian authorities, as emergency teams continued rescue operations at damaged residential sites.
Ukraine’s military said the attacks had targeted civilian areas, including residential buildings, causing widespread destruction and heavy casualties. Local officials reported that a hotel had caught fire after the strikes, while a six-storey apartment building had completely collapsed.
Rescue workers had been searching through the rubble for survivors and assisting residents affected by the attacks. Emergency crews were also working to assess the damage and provide support to those displaced by the destruction.
The latest strikes came amid continued fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, with both sides carrying out attacks far from the front lines. Ukrainian officials accused Moscow of targeting civilian infrastructure, while Russia maintained that its operations were aimed at military facilities.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had conducted long-range strikes on airfields in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions. It said the attacks involved advanced weapons launched from air, land and sea, along with unmanned aerial vehicles, and claimed that the intended military targets had been hit.
The claims from both sides could not be independently verified. The exchange of accusations came as the conflict entered another phase of intensified attacks, with cities and infrastructure continuing to suffer damage despite ongoing international calls for a diplomatic solution.
The latest casualties added to the growing humanitarian toll of the war, which has displaced millions of people and caused extensive damage across Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
