Overnight Russian attacks killed ten – including a baby – in Ukraine, followed by a reported Ukrainian drone strike in Russia’s second-largest city.
ADVERTISEMENTThe death toll from an overnight Russian drone strike in Odesa has climbed to ten. A 4-month-old baby and child are among the dead.
Debris from the Iranian-made drone hit an apartment block in the southern Ukrainian port city between Friday and Saturday, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.
A further eight people sustained injuries, authorities said.
In the wake of the deadly attack, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Western allies to boost Ukraine’s air defences.
Speaking about the casualties, he wrote on X: “Tymofiy was 4 months old. Mark was about to turn 3 years old. My condolences to all of their close ones.”
Ukraine’s number one added that a 3-year-old girl was injured in the attack.
“Delays in the delivery of weapons to Ukraine, as well as air defense to protect our people, unfortunately result in such losses. … Ukraine has never requested anything more than what is necessary to protect lives,” Zelenskyy wrote.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported multiple strikes across the country, shooting down 14 of 17 drones.
Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov reported Saturday morning that more than 20 settlements in the eastern Ukrainian province sustained Russian artillery and mortar attacks, while high-rise buildings in the regional capital, also called Kharkiv, were damaged by a drone attack.
He said that there were no casualties, but that three people suffered an “acute stress reaction.”
Russia’s defence ministry reported that 38 Ukrainian drones were intercepted overnight into Sunday over the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed from Kyiv in 2014.
A bridge that connects Crimea to Russian territory was closed to traffic for about two hours in the early hours.
On Saturday, Russian authorities said an “emergency” damaged an apartment building in St Petersburg.
However, local news and social media claimed a Ukrainian drone hit the residential building in Russia’s second-largest city.
Euronews could not independently verify either claim.
In Russia, the TASS state news agency said damage to the apartment in St Petersburg’s Krasnogvardeisky district was caused by an ” explosion”.
Residents were evacuated, though there were no casualties, the city’s governor Alexander Beglov wrote on Telegram.
Windows were broken and balconies were damaged.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Mash news website said the apartment building was hit by a Ukrainian drone.
It published videos appearing to show the moment the apartment building was struck, showing a strong flash of light engulfing one side of the building and fragments of debris flying into the air. Another video showed car alarms going off.
Again the videos could not be immediately verified by Euronews.
Russia’s Defense Ministry has not commented on the incident.
Citing preliminary data, TASS reports that 100 people were taken out of the buildings on the streets and residents of homes affected were temporarily housed in a nearby kindergarten.
ADVERTISEMENTThe damaged building is a five-story building built in 1979, with 90 apartments in six entrances, the Russian state agency reported.
