KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles struck a city in southern Ukraine, killing seven civilians, including children, and wounding dozens of others, local authorities said.
Ukrainian officials released photos of bodies lying under picnic blankets in a Vilniansk park, and of deep craters in the blackened earth next to the charred, mangled remains of a building.
Thirty-six people were wounded in Saturday night’s attack, authorities said, and declared a day of mourning on Sunday. Vilniansk is in the Zaporizhia region, less than 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the local capital and north of the front lines, while Russian troops remain in occupation of part of the province.
According to local governor Ivan Fedorov, three children were among the dead and nine others were injured.
In a separate Telegram message several hours earlier, Fedorov said the strike had damaged a store, residential buildings and an unnamed “critical infrastructure” facility in Vilniansk, which had a population of about 14,300 before Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. counted.
Russia continues to deploy Ukrainian troops in various locations along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front. Moscow has stepped up airstrikes in an effort to deplete Ukraine’s resources, often targeting energy facilities and other vital infrastructure.
After the attack in Vilniansk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Kiev’s Western partners to strengthen their air defenses and long-range munitions to deter Russian attacks.
In Ukraine’s war-torn eastern Donetsk region, eight civilians died and another 14 were injured on Saturday and overnight, local governor Vadym Filashkin said, as gunfire continues almost daily in much of the province. During the same period, one civilian and another five were injured in the southern Kherson region, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on Telegram.
Four people were injured in northeastern Kharkiv province, which has seen heavy fighting in recent months as Russia launched a cross-border operation that threatened Ukraine’s second-largest city, according to local governor Oleh Syniehubov.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed on Sunday that its forces shot down three dozen Ukrainian drones in one night over six regions in southwestern Russia.
Debris from a drone fell on a village in the Kursk region, blowing away windows and damaging roofs and fences, according to a Telegram message from regional governor Aleksey Smirnov. In the city of Lipetsk, further north, a drone was shot down because it appeared to be targeting the industrial area, local governor Igor Artamonov said. There were no casualties in either case.
