A Russian drone strike on the Black Sea port city of Odesa early on Thursday killed at least two people and injured 15 others, Ukrainian emergency services reported.
The attack damaged a 16-storey building, several other apartment buildings, private homes, a school, a supermarket and cars, Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said.
Nine out of the 15 victims were residents of the 16-storey building, according to the Odesa’s regional prosecutor’s office spokesperson Irina Kovalenko.
“In one of the houses a man died, born in 1943, and a woman, born in 1955. It is likely that they are spouses. The number of victims is still being clarified,” Kovalenko added.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that Russia launched five Iskander-M ballistic missiles and 170 UAVs of various types, including loitering munitions and decoy drones, into five regions of Ukraine.
Out of those, 74 Shahed-type attack drones were shot down, and another 68 imitation drones were “locationally lost” without negative consequences.
In Kyiv, an explosive part of a drone injured an elderly woman, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Kyiv authorities have also warned residents to exercise caution if they come across debris, citing suspected cluster ammunition use.
No casualties have been reported in the regions of Kharkiv, Sumy and Donetsk.
Meanwhile, seven people were killed and at least 20 wounded after a Ukrainian drone attack reportedly struck the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in Ukraine’s Kherson region on Thursday, Moscow-appointed officials in the region said.
“At about 9:30 Moscow time (8:30 CEST) in Oleshky, in the area of the central market, Ukrainian forces carried out a massive strike with FPV drones on civilians. At the time of the attack, there were many people in the market,” Moscow-appointed governor Vladimir Saldo wrote on Telegram.
Euronews could not independently verify these claims.
The latest wave of attacks happened after Washington and Kyiv signed an agreement on Wednesday granting the US access to Ukraine’s vast rare earth mineral resources.
The deal, which has been months in the making, could lead to continued military support for Ukraine.
Additional sources • AP