Ukraine, Russia trade air assaults that leave seven dead — including kids
Ukraine and Russia traded weekend air attacks that apparently left seven people dead and dozens more wounded — as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged his embattled nation’s allies to help bolster its air defenses.
Six of those people — including two children — died in Ukrainian drone and missile attacks on Sunday, Russian authorities claimed.
Meanwhile, a fresh attack by a Russian guided bomb killed at least one person and wounded 11 in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Sunday, according to local officials.
In a video released after the attack, Zelenskyy renewed calls for allies to send weaponry that could defend his country from such assaults.
“Modern air defense systems for Ukraine — such as Patriots, accelerated training of our pilots for F-16s, and most importantly, sufficient range for our weapons — are truly necessary,” he said.
In Russia, five of the dead were hit by falling debris from Ukrainian missiles that were brought down over a coastal region in Sevastopol, which is a port city in Russia-annexed Crimea, according to Mikhail Razvozhayev, the city’s Moscow-installed governor.
Nearly 125 people were wounded in the same attacks, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
Another person was killed in the Russian border city of Grayvoron, the regional governor there said.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed both Ukraine and the US were responsible for a “deliberate missile strike on civilians,” and that American ATACMS missiles were used in the attack.
The Russians also claimed their air defenses brought down 33 Ukrainian drones over the western part of the nation.
There were no casualties or damage.
In Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the power was out in half the city after the Russian guided-bomb attack.
The Russians also launched four more bombs into the city Saturday afternoon, which damaged a five-story residential building and killed three.
The regional governor there said 41 people were being treated for injuries on Sunday.
Two more people were hurt by falling debris after the Ukrainians brought down Russian missiles over the Kyiv region overnight, according to Ukraine’s air force commander, Mykola Oleschuk.
With Post wires