Russia and Ukraine exchanged overnight strikes that killed civilians and injured many others on both sides. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
In Russia's border region of Belgorod, Ukrainian drones killed five people and injured two dozen others including a 4-year-old boy, according to the regional administration.
Russian missiles struck a high-rise apartment block in Kharkiv's Saltivskyi district, killing two people and injuring 13, according to regional head Oleh Syniehubov. Eight more people were injured in Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa after "dozens of missiles and drones" struck the city and surrounding region, according to local administration head Oleh Kiper.
Large-scale Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities have become almost routine in recent weeks, with Moscow exploiting Ukraine's critical shortage of interceptors for the U.S.-made Patriot systems — the sole air defense weapon in its arsenal able to shoot down ballistic missiles.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has for months lobbied other countries, especially the U.S., to send Ukraine more Patriot systems made scarcer by the Iran war, arguing they are crucial for defending cities.