At least eight people were killed in Russian attacks across Ukraine on Wednesday, regional officials said, as Moscow and Kyiv exchanged drone strikes that left civilians dead and damaged infrastructure on both sides of the war.
In Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, Russian drones struck the Starokozache border crossing with Moldova overnight. Governor Oleh Kiper said two civilians were killed and three others injured. The attack sparked a fire and temporarily stopped traffic at the crossing, although Ukraine’s customs agency said operations resumed by mid afternoon, according to Al Jazeera News.
In Kherson, Russian drone attacks killed a 73 year old man and a 55 year old woman in separate incidents. Regional prosecutors opened a war-crimes investigation. A 34 year old man was also killed in a drone strike in the town of Kushuhum in the southeastern Zaporizhia region, where a 52 year old woman was injured.
A morning assault on Mykolaiv killed one person and wounded five, according to Ukraine’s emergency services. Homes, cafes, shops and warehouses were damaged, while a major fire erupted at one site.
In the eastern Donetsk region, an aerial bomb struck Sloviansk, killing one person, injuring another and destroying a house, regional military administration chief Vadym Filashkin said. Five more bombs hit near Kramatorsk, wounding eight people and damaging 27 homes in Bilenke village.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had struck a Ukrainian cargo vessel carrying military equipment in the Black Sea on its way to Odesa, as well as a Kyiv warehouse it said was linked to drone production. The claims could not be independently verified.
Russia said it had shot down 596 Ukrainian drones overnight. In the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, Ukrainian attacks killed four people, including a child, and injured 29 others, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said. Debris fell near businesses and a residential building, the city’s mayor reported.
Ukraine acknowledged overnight attacks in the area and said military vessels at Novorossiysk naval base were hit. Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, said missile-carrying ships were among vessels “lost”, but gave no number.
Novorossiysk is a vital Russian export port for oil, fuel and grain, and has repeatedly been targeted by Ukrainian drones.
