At least nine wounded as Ukraine and Russia exchange fire overnight

Two people were wounded in Russian drone attacks in Ukraine’s southern city of Zaporizhzhia, according to the head of the regional military administration there, Ivan Fedorov.

The attacks damaged 20 houses and caused three fires and debris from the drones damaged a trade kiosk, private houses and a low-pressure gas pipe, the State Emergency Service of Zaporizhzhia region reported.

“We were sitting in the room, watching TV, and then suddenly this explosion went off, and everyone went numb and interceded. And then we went outside to have a look. A neighbour who was repairing his roof had been hit, too,” one local said.

Russia also launched 74 drones over Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kirovohrad, Kherson and Mykolaiv, Ukraine’s military said.

It said 47 were shot down whilst 27 disappeared from their radar.

In Russia, at least seven people were injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Tambov region overnight on Saturday, according to local authorities.

Windows were knocked out and balconies damaged in two five-storey apartment buildings in the town of Kotovsk, the acting governor of Tambov region, Yevgeny Pervyshov, said on his Telegram channel.

Videos on social media showed damaged buildings and debris scattered on the road.

Since Russia’s all-out invasion of its smaller neighbour on 24 February, 2022, Europe’s biggest armed conflict since World War II has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides.