KYIV, Ukraine >> Russian missiles, bombs and drones battered three regions of Ukraine in targeted nighttime attacks, officials said Friday, as Russia mounts an intensified aerial campaign that Ukrainian officials say they need more Western help to counter — even as doubts deepen over what Kyiv can expect from a new U.S. administration.
Since the war began almost three years ago following Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor, the Russian military has repeatedly used its superior air power to blast civilian targets across Ukraine. More than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the conflict, according to the United Nations.
A roughly 1,000-pounds glide bomb severely damaged a high-rise apartment building in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second- largest city, in the middle of the night, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. At least 25 people, including an infant, were injured, he said.
Glide bombs, for which Ukraine has no effective countermeasure, obliterate their targets, sending out a powerful shock wave and often leaving a wide crater.
In the southern city of Odesa, a Russian drone attack killed one person and injured nine others overnight, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said.
In the capital Kyiv, falling wreckage from intercepted missiles injured four people, regional Gov. Ruslan Kravchenko said.
In total, Russia fired 92 drones and five missiles at Ukraine during the night, Ukraine’s air force said.
Four missiles and 62 drones were intercepted, and 26 drones were jammed electronically, it claimed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country needs more help to fight back against Russia’s military might, even as uncertainty deepens about what Western aid Ukraine can expect after Donald Trump was elected this week as the next U.S. president.
“It is important to act together and decisively at the international level every time Russia tries to destroy our lives,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.