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Russian attacks are continuing to target cities across Ukraine as the Kremlin shows no signs of letting up and peace efforts appear to have stalled as the ongoing US-Israeli war in Iran continues to occupy global priorities.
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Ukrainian officials say a barrage of Russian drones targeted the northeastern Kharkiv region overnight into Saturday.
The attacks mainly targeted civilian infrastructure and residential areas. Authorities say a 12-storey residential building was hit by Russia’s Iranian-made Shahed strike drones, causing damage to the external façade and injuring people.
One man was injured, suffering shrapnel wounds to the chest, after a drone struck the 11th floor of the building where his apartment is located. Another resident was injured by fragments of shattered glass, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.
Several civilian vehicles were also damaged as Moscow’s drone incursion struck a car park near the residential complex.
Two people were killed as the Kremlin targeted a civilian public transport bus in the Dniprovskyi district of the southern Kherson region. The attack was carried out in the early hours of Saturday.
Authorities say an employee of a utility company and a woman, whose identity has yet to be confirmed, were killed on the scene. Seven other passengers were injured in the attacks, six men and one woman, who have been transferred to hospitals to receive medical care.
In separate attacks, the Kherson Military Administration reported that one person was killed and 10 others injured as a result of attacks across the southern region.
Ukraine’s Air Force says the Kremlin fired more than 160 drones targeting 12 different locations across the country overnight and into the early hours of Saturday.
It added that approximately 140 of them were intercepted or jammed aerially, but confirmed that some two dozen did strike their targets. They also warned that further attacks are to be expected, noting that its forces are maintaining readiness to respond to these threats.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drones are also achieving success on the battlefield, and have been striking energy facilities deep inside Russia.
The attacks are aimed at slashing Moscow’s oil exports, a key source of funding for its grinding invasion of Ukraine. But the economic impact is so far unclear, as the rise in oil prices from the Iran war, and a related easing of US sanctions, have helped replenish the Kremlin’s coffers.
Kyiv’s drones have hit the oil refinery and export terminal in the Black Sea town of Tuapse on four occasions in just over two weeks, sparking fires that prompted local evacuations and sent up massive plumes of smoke. The town is roughly 450 kilometres from the front lines.
Ukraine said on Thursday that it hit an oil pumping station in Russia’s Perm region, more than 1,500 kilometres from Ukraine, two days in a row. Russian media reported the attacks, though Perm Governor Dmitry Makhonin said only that drones had hit industrial facilities.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that Russia has lost at least $7 billion (€5.97 billion) since the start of the year as a direct result of attacks on its oil sector.
Earlier in the week, he said Ukrainian intelligence indicates a drop in exports from key oil ports such as Ust-Luga and Primorsk.
Ukraine’s strikes have also disrupted Russia’s oil refining capacities, while sanctions make it difficult to acquire replacement parts, experts say.
Additional sources • AP
