At least four people were killed and 19 were injured in a Russian drone attack that sparked a large fire in a hotel and restaurant complex and other buildings late on Friday in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
According to a Reuters report, Serhiy Lysak, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, reported on Telegram that a high-rise apartment building and nearly 10 private homes were set ablaze. He added that firefighting crews had successfully brought the fire at the hotel complex under control.
Lysak wrote on the messaging app, the “enemy directed more than 20 drones toward the city, but most of them were shot down.
Photos and videos shared on social media captured scenes of flames and thick plumes of smoke billowing into the sky. Other visuals depicted the shattered interior of a building, the heavily damaged upper floors of a high-rise apartment block, and streets littered with broken glass and debris from the destruction.
This comes two days after Russian forces carried out a large-scale drone attack overnight targeting the Kharkiv region, leaving 21 people injured and causing significant damage to residential buildings and storage facilities.
ALSO READ: Putin’s Proposal For UN-Led Interim Government In Ukraine Is A ‘Delay Tactic’, Claims Zelenskyy
Kharkiv Drone Attack
According to Reuters, emergency services said that the attacks in Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, ignited four fires. They also shared images showing firefighters working to extinguish flames amid piles of rubble.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that it intercepted 42 out of 86 drones launched by Russia during the attack. Additionally, it stated that 26 more drones likely failed to reach their targets due to electronic countermeasures.
“No country should have to go through this,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday, as per Reuters. “And against this backdrop, speaking about easing pressure on Russia, lifting sanctions, and so on, is definitely inappropriate and unhelpful.”
On Tuesday, the United States announced that separate agreements had been reached with Ukraine and Russia to pause strikes in the Black Sea and on each other’s energy infrastructure. However, contrasting rhetoric from Moscow and Kyiv highlighted the deep divisions that persist between the two sides.
