A predawn Russian drone strike hits Ukraine’s Odesa, wounding 14; 2 killed in Russian-held Kherson

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone attack before dawn on Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa wounded 14 people, including two children, authorities said Monday, in the latest barrage of civilian areas that have been a hallmark of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, now in its fifth year.

The drones hit residential neighborhoods and civilian infrastructure, said the head of the city’s administration, Serhii Lysak. Russia has repeatedly targeted Odesa, a key Black Sea port for Ukraine.

Five of the injured, most of them with shrapnel wounds, were hospitalized, according to the head of the regional military administration, Oleh Kiper.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone strike killed two people in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s Kherson region, Moscow-installed Gov. Vladimir Saldo said Monday. A man and a woman in their 70s died in the village of Dnipriany, he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that over the past week Russia has fired approximately 1,900 attack drones, nearly 1,400 powerful guided aerial bombs and around 60 missiles of various types at Ukraine.

Ukraine’s wartime development of cutting-edge military technology means it is intercepting more than 90% of the drones that Russia launches, Zelenskyy claimed in a post on X. However, Ukraine needs more American-made Patriot air defense missiles that are able to shoot down Russia’s ballistic missiles.

Ukraine has recently been helping countries in the Middle East and Gulf region, which are countering attacks on their territory by Iranian drones, with know-how amid the Iran war.

Also, Norway is the latest European country to enter into a joint drone manufacturing agreement with Kyiv, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Monday.

Zelenskyy noted a recent raft of good news for Ukraine: NATO partners, excluding the United States, have contributed to a financial arrangement to buy American weapons, the European Union has approved a 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) loan to Ukraine, and the EU intends to place more sanctions on Moscow.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has been assailing oil terminals and refineries deep inside Russia with long-range drones and missiles, aiming to disrupt Moscow’s economy.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said late Sunday it has seen geolocated evidence that Ukrainian forces conducted at least 10 strikes against Russian oil and gas infrastructure in the past two weeks.

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