13 injured as Ukraine downs Russian missiles, drones

ISTANBUL

At least 13 people were injured in Ukraine on Thursday as it downed multiple missiles and drones launched by Russia overnight, an official said.

Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuks said air defenses shot down seven missiles and 32 drones.

He said drones were downed over the Khmelnytskyi, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Kherson, Kyiv and Vinnytsia regions.

Eight other missiles were also launched against the Kharkiv region, he added.

Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram that six people were injured in the region as multiple settlements came under fire and damaged four private homes.

Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov said seven people were injured in the region’s administrative center after a missile struck a two-storey administrative building.

Airstrikes in the Kharkiv region have intensified since Russia’s ongoing offensive in the northeastern region that began earlier this month, opening a new front in the over two-year-long conflict that was hitherto concentrated in the country’s east and south.