A massive wave of air strikes in the last 24 hours has led to new casualties, dozens of injuries and extensive damage to civilian and industrial sites in Ukraine and Russia.
Strikes on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure
Russian forces attacked the territory of Ukraine with 129 drones, the Ukrainian military reported. In Zaporizhia, aerial bombs and drones partially destroyed a multi-story residential building. Rescue teams pulled two people from under the rubble, and at least 9 civilians, including two children, were injured. The attack hit gas stations, office buildings and production facilities of the state-owned energy company.
A 66-year-old man died in Sumy region after a drone blew up his house. In the city of Sumy, the number of civilians injured in strikes on apartment buildings reached 13. Another victim - a 56-year-old woman - was registered in Dnipropetrovsk region, where artillery shelling and drone attacks caused serious material damage to more than 11 private homes. As reported by the European media outlet Euronews, Russian airstrikes today were also deliberately targeted at gas production facilities of “Naftogaz“ in Kharkiv and Poltava regions.
Ukrainian response: Key Russian plant hit
The Ukrainian armed forces responded with precision strikes at long range, with the Russian military-industrial complex as the main target. Ukrainian long-range cruise missiles dealt a devastating blow to the territory of the military plant “Titan-Barricade“ in the Russian city of Volgograd.
The enterprise is a key manufacturer of artillery systems and components for the “Oreshnik“ strategic missile systems. A large-scale fire broke out at the site, and according to initial data from local authorities in Volgograd, at least 10 employees were injured. Russia's air defense also reported shooting down 39 drones over the Rostov, Bryansk, Belgorod and Samara regions, and one woman was killed in artillery shelling in the occupied city of Gorlovka (Donetsk region).