Russian forces staged huge drone attacks on eastern Ukraine late on Tuesday, triggering fires and injuring at least 22 people, regional officials said.
The attack on the Ukrainian cities of Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Kramatorsk late on April 8 wounded more than two dozen people and damaged multiple residential buildings.
In the Donetsk region, the focal point of the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line in the more than three-year-old war, a residential area came under attack in the city of Kramatorsk and local officials said three people, including a child, were injured.
The Ukrainian air force said that it shot down 32 out of 55 drones launched by Russia overnight, and that another eight did not reach their targets, most likely because of electronic countermeasures.
Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said that “Dnipro suffered the most” from the overnight Russian attack, which wounded at least 15 people, leaving almost all of them in serious condition and Half of the injured were in hospital.
“People have cuts, shrapnel wounds, bruises, and head injuries. Some needed help due to severe stress,” Lysak said.
Lysak added that the attack damaged 15 private houses and nearly two dozen cars. According to him, several business facilities, administrative buildings, and the city’s
Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, and the eastern city of Kramatorsk were also hit by the Russian drones.
Local authorities said more than 20 explosions were heard in Kharkiv, injuring at least two people.
Five others were injured in Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk region.
“An 11-year-old girl, her 34-year-old mother and a 55-year-old grandmother were wounded in the attack,” said the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, Vadym Filashkin.
The Ukrainian Air Force said that it shot down 32 out of 55 drones launched by Russia overnight, with another eight “not reaching their targets.”
Russian Airports Closed
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a post on the Telegram that its air defense units destroyed 158 drones overnight, including 29 over the southern Rostov region.
Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said that several airports in Russia’s south were closed early on April 9 to ensure air safety.
On the ground, according to the latest reportby the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian forces are currently pursuing three different objectives in their attempt to capture the crucial city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region.
“The situation immediately south and southwest of Pokrovsk remains extremely dynamic amid intensified Russian offensive operations,” the report said.
With Russian forces spending the last 13 months trying to capture the city, the ISW further underlined that Ukrainian drone operations and localized counterattacks are continuing to complicate Moscow’s advances in the area.
According to him, Russia is preparing a new offensive, particularly in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
