Russian strikes pound Ukraine for 2nd day
Published: 05:08 PM,Aug 27,2024 | EDITED : 08:08 PM,Aug 27,2024
People look at burnt-out trucks on a site following an air attack, in the Odesa region, Ukraine. — AFP
KYIV: Russia fired a wave of attack drones and missiles at Ukraine that killed at least five people, authorities said on Tuesday, after a second night of heavy strikes across the war-battered nation.
Within hours of the barrage, Ukraine claimed fresh advances in its surprise assault on Russia's Kursk border region and reported taking nearly 600 Russian troops as prisoners in the past three weeks.
'Crimes against humanity cannot be committed with impunity,' President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media, saying on Tuesday that four people had been killed and 16 wounded. One woman later died in hospital, authorities said.
Journalists in the capital Kyiv heard air raid sirens echo over the city throughout the night as well as an explosion, likely from air defence systems.
Monday's attack was one of Moscow's largest-ever on Ukraine, prompting Kyiv to push for allies' permission to use Western-provided weapons to strike deep inside Russia.
Zelensky said in Kyiv that Ukraine had used Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets to counter the Russian barrages and also announced that Ukraine had successfully tested a domestically-produced ballistic missile.
Local authorities said three of the victims had been killed in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region and two died in the central city of Kryvyi Rig after a missile struck a hotel.
The hotel strike comes just days after a team working for the Reuters news agency were hit by a missile in their hotel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, killing a safety advisor working with the agency.
The Russian attacks triggered widespread blackouts and spurred condemnation from Ukraine's allies in Europe and the United States. Russia said the attack had targeted infrastructure linked to the Ukrainian military. NATO member Poland said its airspace was violated during the barrage, probably by a drone. Since February 2022, Russia has launched repeated large-scale drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, including punishing strikes on energy facilities.
Ukraine's electricity grid operator said Tuesday that emergency blackouts would be applied throughout the day to reduce pressure on the grid following the fresh attacks that damaged energy infrastructure nationwide. Local Ukrainian authorities said that three other civilians had been killed in separate attacks in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions.
Ukrainian forces have been pushing their offensive in Kursk, a surprise operation that has seen Kyiv gain swathes of territory in three weeks. Zelensky said late Monday that Ukraine's cross-border incursion launched on August 6 was partially to 'compensate' for Kyiv's inability to strike deeper into Russian territory. — AFP
Within hours of the barrage, Ukraine claimed fresh advances in its surprise assault on Russia's Kursk border region and reported taking nearly 600 Russian troops as prisoners in the past three weeks.
'Crimes against humanity cannot be committed with impunity,' President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on social media, saying on Tuesday that four people had been killed and 16 wounded. One woman later died in hospital, authorities said.
Journalists in the capital Kyiv heard air raid sirens echo over the city throughout the night as well as an explosion, likely from air defence systems.
Monday's attack was one of Moscow's largest-ever on Ukraine, prompting Kyiv to push for allies' permission to use Western-provided weapons to strike deep inside Russia.
Zelensky said in Kyiv that Ukraine had used Western-supplied F-16 fighter jets to counter the Russian barrages and also announced that Ukraine had successfully tested a domestically-produced ballistic missile.
Local authorities said three of the victims had been killed in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region and two died in the central city of Kryvyi Rig after a missile struck a hotel.
The hotel strike comes just days after a team working for the Reuters news agency were hit by a missile in their hotel in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, killing a safety advisor working with the agency.
The Russian attacks triggered widespread blackouts and spurred condemnation from Ukraine's allies in Europe and the United States. Russia said the attack had targeted infrastructure linked to the Ukrainian military. NATO member Poland said its airspace was violated during the barrage, probably by a drone. Since February 2022, Russia has launched repeated large-scale drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, including punishing strikes on energy facilities.
Ukraine's electricity grid operator said Tuesday that emergency blackouts would be applied throughout the day to reduce pressure on the grid following the fresh attacks that damaged energy infrastructure nationwide. Local Ukrainian authorities said that three other civilians had been killed in separate attacks in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions.
Ukrainian forces have been pushing their offensive in Kursk, a surprise operation that has seen Kyiv gain swathes of territory in three weeks. Zelensky said late Monday that Ukraine's cross-border incursion launched on August 6 was partially to 'compensate' for Kyiv's inability to strike deeper into Russian territory. — AFP