Russian airstrike in Ukraine leaves four dead, Kyiv confirms

According to Ukrainian officials, Russia killed at least four civilians and damaged infrastructure and residential structures throughout Ukraine on Saturday with a volley of drones and missiles.

Three persons were killed and ten others, including a toddler, were injured when a Russian missile struck a residential structure in the central city of Poltava, according to the Interior Ministry.

The ministry shared images of the apartment block with heavy smoke columns rising into the sky and the top levels destroyed on the Telegram messaging service. Dozens of rescuers and fire departments were searching the debris.

A drone strike in the northeastern city of Kharkiv killed one person and injured four others, according to the mayor of Kharkiv.

Buildings in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia were also destroyed by Russian soldiers, according to officials.

They claimed there were no initial indications of significant damage or injuries in the capital, but Ukrainian air defence was fending off the assaults in Kyiv as well.

“Russia’s daily attacks on Ukraine are a signal that the aggressor will not stop committing its crimes,” Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Telegram.

“Russia shelled Ukraine once more last night and this morning, targeting Odesa, Poltava, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia… The terrorists target civilian infrastructure, such as homes, schools, and automobiles.

Moscow has increased its airstrikes on Ukraine, launching dozens of drones in nearly daily raids as the conflict with Russia nears its third anniversary this month.

The early Saturday attacks came after a Russian missile attack the night before that destroyed the city’s historic core in the southern Black Sea port of Odesa.