(Kyiv) A Ukrainian drone strike killed at least five people in Russia’s Kursk region, local officials said Saturday, as authorities in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro searched through rubble after a Russian attack destroyed a nine-story residential building and left at least one person dead.
Two children were among the victims of the Ukrainian attack in the village of Gorodishche on the Russian-Ukrainian border, regional head Alexei Smirnov said on social media.
In Dnipro, at least one person died and 12 others were injured, including a 7-month-old girl, after a Russian strike destroyed the top four floors of a building Friday evening, regional chief Serhii Lysak said.
PHOTO UKRAINIAN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS MINISTRY PROVIDED BY REUTERS
View of a building in Dnipro hit by a Russian strike
The attacks came as Moscow has stepped up airstrikes in an effort to deplete Ukraine’s resources, often targeting energy facilities and other critical infrastructure.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the country lost about 80% of its thermal power and a third of its hydropower in the Russian strikes.
Following the attack in Dnipro, the Ukrainian president reminded his allies that Ukraine needed more air defense systems. The Ukrainian Air Force announced on Saturday that it had shot down 10 Russian drones overnight.
“That is why we constantly remind all our partners: only a sufficient amount of high-quality air defense systems, only a sufficient amount of determination from the whole world can stop Russian terrorism,” Zelenskyy said.
Kyiv also responded to the Russian offensive with its own airstrikes, targeting energy infrastructure.
In a statement Saturday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry said six Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight over the Tver, Bryansk and Belgorod regions, as well as Ukraine’s annexed Crimean peninsula. He did not provide information on the reported strike in the Kursk region.