Russian Missile and Drone Strikes in Ukraine Result in 3 Deaths

LONDON — A recent wave of Russian missile and drone strikes over Ukraine resulted in the deaths of at least three individuals, including a mother and her young son. According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, the tragic event occurred late on Monday in Zaporizhzhia, striking a hotel complex.

On the same evening, Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched a series of missiles and drones. The attack involved three Iskander ballistic missiles fired from occupied Crimea, an air-launched Kh-59/69 missile from Russia’s western Kursk region, and a total of 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones, deployed from both Kursk and Crimea.

Ukrainian air defense systems were able to successfully intercept 27 of these drones. However, six drones reportedly went down in the assault. Amidst this chaos, two other family members from the Zaporizhzhia incident—the father and a 13-year-old girl—were trapped under the rubble but were later rescued. Both are currently hospitalized in serious condition, according to the Interior Ministry.

In Dnipro, another city affected by the night’s aggression, a Russian missile attack resulted in one fatality and at least six injuries, as noted by the Interior Ministry. Early Tuesday saw air raid alarms ringing across the central city of Poltava, as attacks continued to stir fear among residents.

Vladimir Rogov, leader of the pro-Moscow initiative “We Are Together with Russia,” stated via his Telegram channel that the attack aimed to hit a military communications school located in Poltava.

Throughout this tense night, Ukraine’s air defense units were actively engaged in various regions, including Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Poltava, along with the Chernihiv and Sumy areas. The ongoing threat has kept military readiness heightened across these regions.

As the strikes escalate in frequency and intensity, Ukraine’s leadership is increasingly advocating for more significant assistance from its Western allies, particularly the United States. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has emphasized the necessity for advanced weaponry to better defend against and retaliate to these airborne assaults.

President Zelenskyy asserted that Russia’s long-range attacks on military and civilian installations are forcing Ukraine to seek more robust capabilities to target airfields and missile launch sites inside Russian territory. Ukraine has enjoyed some success using its domestically produced drones and missiles to strike within Russia, but the president remains adamant about the need for further resources.

“The terrorist state must feel what war is,” tweeted Zelenskyy, highlighting the urgency of the situation. He expressed that in order to compel Russia to seek peace, it is essential for Ukraine to have “effective tools” at its disposal to reclaim occupied territories.

In light of a devastating guided bomb strike that occurred in Kharkiv the previous week, Zelenskyy reiterated the necessity of striking back against the sources of these attacks. “We can only stop such strikes by targeting Russian military airfields, their bases, and the logistics sustaining their operations,” he stated in his nightly address.

The ongoing conflict has dramatically escalated, impacting numerous lives and further straining humanitarian conditions across Ukraine. Residents in affected regions live under the constant threat of drone and missile attacks, prompting urgent calls for international support and intervention.

As the situation evolves, the pleas from Ukrainian officials for Western assistance grow louder, emphasizing the need for collaborative efforts to fortify air defenses and ultimately restore peace to the region.

Source: ABC News