KYIV, Ukraine (AP) 鈥 At least eight people died overnight as Russian drone and missile strikes pounded Ukraine鈥檚 towns and cities, local officials said Saturday. Meanwhile, Moscow鈥檚 troops continued their grinding advance through the country鈥檚 east.
A Russian missile strike on an apartment block in the Ukrainian city of Poltava killed at least seven people and injured 14 more, including three children, Ukraine's Interior Ministry said.
Some 22 people were rescued from the five-story building, which partially collapsed following the attack, said the Poltava region鈥檚 acting governor, Volodymyr Kohut. He also announced that the region would observe three days of mourning for the victims of the attack. Rescue teams remain at the site.
Elsewhere, a 60-year-old woman was killed by falling debris from a downed drone in the Kharkiv region, local Gov. Oleh Syniehubov wrote on social media.
The bombardment comes as Russian forces continue their monthslong campaign to capture the key Donetsk strongholds of and nearby , fighting their way across farm fields and woodland and engulfing small rural settlements.
Russia's Ministry of Defense said Saturday that its troops had taken control of Krymske, a suburb to the north of the contested frontline town of Toretsk in Ukraine's Donetsk region. Russian troops have been fighting for the settlement in a grinding assault throughout the winter of 2024. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said last week that it expected the Russians to take full control of Toretsk 鈥渨ithin days.鈥 鈥淟ast night, Russia launched an attack on our cities using various types of weapons: missiles, attack drones, and aerial bombs,鈥 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media Saturday.
鈥淓very such act of terror proves that we need greater support in defending against Russian terror. Every air defense system, every interceptor missile, means a life saved.鈥
Ukraine's southern metropolis of Odesa also came under attack late Friday, with Russian missiles falling on the city's historic center, designated a world heritage site by the U.N. cultural organization UNESCO. Seven people were injured in the attack, which also saw debris fall close to the city's ornate 19th-century opera house. Norwegian diplomatic representatives were also in the area during the strike, said local Gov. Oleh Kiper.
between Russia and Ukraine, which began nearly three years ago and shows no signs of ending, more than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the United Nations.
Many have been evacuated from areas along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line where Ukrainian defenses are straining to hold the bigger Russian army at bay.
Civilians have endured hardship caused by Russian attacks on the power grid that have denied them heating and running water. Saturday鈥檚 missile attack prompted emergency power grid shutdowns in seven Ukrainian regions, including Poltava, state energy company Ukrenergo said.
Ukrainian strikes also hit Russia, with air defenses intercepting nine drones across the country鈥檚 Bryansk, Belgorod and Saratov regions, Russia鈥檚 Defense Ministry said in a statement Saturday morning.
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