The recent Russian attack in southern Ukraine, where people had congregated to receive humanitarian aid, has tragically resulted in a death toll of 29, with 48 still missing as of Tuesday. Meanwhile, a series of overnight strikes has targeted power plants across the country, damaging hospitals and injuring numerous people.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that Russian forces launched 289 attack drones, 17 ballistic missiles, and 59 cruise missiles across nine regions, leading to emergency power outages.
President Zelenskyy underscored the significance of the coordinated assault, saying it coincided with the US elections. He emphasised the necessity for the international community to recognise and respond decisively to such acts of aggression.
“It is very telling that all of this is happening on the day of the U.S. congressional elections. The Russians believe that America will not notice this signal from them. But such terror must be noticed and stopped. Ukraine must be helped to defend its skies, otherwise Russia will never stop its missile strikes. It is essential to help build peace honestly and reliably, and America can do that,” Zelenskyy posted on X.
The initial guided-bomb attack targeted a school building utilised for distributing humanitarian aid in Komyushuvakha, a village in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, subsequently striking a nearby shelter. Among the deceased were four police officers and two rescue workers. At least five individuals sustained injuries, as reported by Mykhailo Semikin, the acting head of the regional military administration.
In the northeastern Kharkiv region, a missile and drone attack by Russian forces resulted in at least 62 injuries, according to local authorities. The incident damaged a medical facility in the Nemyshlianskyi district and affected residential areas, shattering windows in four apartment buildings and damaging vehicles. More than 200 patients have since been relocated to other medical facilities, according to Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the regional military administration.
In the Dnipro area, local authorities confirmed that rescuers successfully extracted a woman alive from the rubble following a Russian strike that resulted in one fatality and 17 injuries. This attack damaged both an outpatient clinic and a hospital, requiring the transfer of patients to alternative healthcare facilities, as reported by Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the regional military administration.
Additionally, Russia’s Ministry of Defence announced it intercepted 856 Ukrainian drones overnight. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 493 drones were directed toward the Russian capital. Furthermore, a Ukrainian drone attack at an oil refinery in Yaroslavl injured two employees, with regional Governor Mikhail Yevrayev confirming damage to the refinery’s infrastructure.
In response to these attacks on energy infrastructure, Moscow-installed officials have announced the implementation of rolling blackouts in the southern, western, and eastern regions of Russian-occupied Crimea.
This article used information from The Associated Press.
