Russia and Ukraine exchange overnight drone strikes, killing three
Al Jazeera Staff
Russia and Ukraine exchanged overnight drone strikes, killing three people, including a child in Novorossiysk and two in Kherson. The attacks damaged infrastructure, including a grain terminal, and injured several others.
Russia and Ukraine traded overnight drone strikes that killed three people in the southern Ukrainian port city of Kherson and in Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, regional officials said.
In Novorossiysk, a Ukrainian drone attack from Tuesday night into early Wednesday killed a child, injured another child and a woman, and damaged dozens of buildings, including residential homes, according to Mayor Andrei Kravchenko.
The strikes also damaged the Novorossiysk grain terminal, its owner Demetra Holding said.
“Novorossiysk endured a horrific night,” Kravchenko wrote on Telegram.
In the wider Krasnodar region, which includes Novorossiysk, eight people were injured, regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev said.
Separately, Ukrainian drones damaged several homes in Russian-occupied Crimea, local governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.
Russia's Defense Ministry said it shot down and destroyed a total of 502 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Two killed in Kherson, Ukraine
In Ukraine, a Russian Shahed drone attack killed two people and wounded at least two others, including an elderly woman, according to regional military administration head Oleksandr Prokudin.
In the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, a Russian attack sparked a fire at a shopping center, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said. He shared images and video of a burning building.
The strike cut power to about 1,200 customers in Zaporizhzhia, Fedorov added.
A separate Russian attack on Odesa, Ukraine's largest port, damaged infrastructure there, according to city military administration head Serhiy Lysak.
Russia's Defense Ministry said it struck a fuel depot at Odesa port that it said was used to supply Ukrainian troops.
Moscow has recently intensified strikes on Ukraine's food, agriculture, and warehouse facilities, in response to Kyiv's attacks on Russian energy, ports, and logistics hubs.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Kyiv had submitted proposals to U.S. negotiators on a plan to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Kyiv also committed to halting drone strikes on oil tankers using Russia's Novorossiysk port following a request by U.S. Vice President JD Vance late last month, according to Ukrainian officials cited by the Financial Times.
Negotiations to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2022, have largely stalled since the United States and Israel launched their war against Iran.
Ukraine has repeatedly called for a ceasefire after years of fighting. Russia says it wants a settlement, but any solution must include Ukraine's full cession of four regions Moscow claims, as well as addressing the “root causes” of the conflict.
