Five dead in new Russia, Ukraine strikes

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Russian strikes killed two people and wounded dozens across Ukraine overnight Saturday and Sunday, while a Ukrainian drone attack killed three people in Russia’s Belgorod region.

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More than four years after the start of Russia’s large-scale offensive against Ukraine, the two warring countries are ramping up long-range strikes, causing a growing number of civilian casualties.

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Russia is relying on “ballistic terror,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media, stating that 61 missiles of various types had been fired at his country this week.

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“More pressure, more sanctions against Russia and more air defence for Ukraine are needed,” he said.

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The two people killed by a Russian drone strike were in the major northeastern city of Kharkiv, where four floors of a residential building were also destroyed, Zelensky.

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Twenty-three people were also injured, according to regional governor Oleg Synegoubov. Images he shared show a gutted building with emergency services working at the scene.

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According to the Ukrainian president, eight people were also injured overnight in Odesa, where strikes damaged the power grid, the port, and residential buildings.

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Zelensky condemned another “absolutely brutal” strike targeting energy infrastructure near a shopping centre in Pavlohrad, in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Nine people, including four children, were injured there, he said.

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Images posted on social media Saturday evening — which AFP has not been able to verify — show buildings on fire in what appears to be a commercial area.

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In Russia, a Ukrainian drone attack on the border city of Belgorod killed three people, according to the region’s acting governor, Alexander Shuvaev.

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Twenty-five people, including children aged four and nine, were also injured, he added.

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Fires broke out in cars, two apartment buildings, and a house, according to him.

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A video released by Russian media shows an apartment building engulfed in flames at night, watched by residents gathered across the street.

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According to the United Nations, the conflict has claimed more civilian lives this year.

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The Russian invasion, which began four and a half years ago, continues with prospects of a peace agreement largely stalled.

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bur-led/st/cw

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