Russian air attacks across Ukraine early Saturday killed at least four people and damaged critical infrastructure, including a port and a maternity hospital, authorities said, as Russia’s pressed on with its war with Ukraine.
Moscow has been firing drones at Ukraine in nightly barrages during its four-year invasion launched in February 2022, with Kyiv accusing it of attacking residential areas and targeting civilians.
In southern port city of Odesa, two people were killed and at least 13 wounded, Sergiy Lysak, head of the city’s military administration, said, adding one of the hits damaged a maternity hospital roof.
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Images released by Ukrainian emergency services showed shattered windows, rubble inside the building and firefighters working at the site of the attack.
“There was no military purpose whatsoever – this was pure terror against ordinary civilian life,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media about the strikes on Odesa.
A port in the Odesa region was also damaged in the shelling, after several hits were recorded on its infrastructure, Ukraine’s state ports authority said.
Russia launched 273 drones at Ukraine overnight, 252 of which were shot down, the Ukrainian air force said on Saturday.
In Kryvyi Rih, a man was killed in a morning strike that hit an industrial enterprise, said Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the Dnipro regional administration. He said fires erupted at the site.
In the central Poltava region, one person was killed after Russian drones hit a residential building and industrial facilities, regional authorities said.
“Each such strike proves that Russia has no intention of ending this war. That is why any easing of pressure on it is dangerous,” Zelensky said.
In Russia’s Yaroslavl region, a child was killed in a drone attack, regional governor Mikhail Evraev said on Telegram.
Moscow said that a total of 155 Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed in Russia’s airspace overnight.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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