Ukraine reports 3 deaths in shelling; Russia says Ukrainian drone killed TV journalist
Russian shelling killed three civilians in southeastern regions of Ukraine, Kyiv authorities said Thursday, while a Russian television journalist was reported to have died from injuries sustained in a Ukrainian drone attack.
Southern Ukraine’s Kherson region received eight nighttime artillery barrages, which killed a 42-year-old man in his apartment building and wounded another man, the Ukrainian presidential office said.
Russian shelling also killed two people in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the office said.
It was not possible to independently verify the reports. Long-range Russian shelling that hits civilian areas has been a hallmark of Moscow’s war in Ukraine, which will mark its 21-month anniversary Friday.
Meanwhile, Russian state media reported that TV journalist Boris Maksudov died after being wounded in a drone attack while working in southern Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region
Maksudov, who worked for Russian state television channel Russia 24, was hit Wednesday while working on a story about Ukraine allegedly shelling civilians, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense. Zaporizhzhia is one of the four Ukrainian regions that Russia illegally annexed last year.
Many of the 45,000 Ukrainians who fled to Israel after Russia invaded their country are now dealing with the terror and trauma of another war.
A stepped-up Russian bombardment of civilian infrastructure has prompted Ukraine and its Western allies to beef up air-defense systems. Ukrainian officials fear that the Kremlin’s forces will repeat their aerial attacks on the power grid this winter in an effort to break the country’s will.
The grid is already showing signs of strain. Ukrainian national electricity operator Ukrenergo reported an power shortage Wednesday because of a steep rise in consumption caused by a drop in temperatures that followed a spell of mild weather, a company statement said.
Ukrenergo asked system operators in Romania, Slovakia and Poland to provide emergency assistance.
At a meeting Wednesday of some 50 countries supporting Ukraine’s war effort, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said they were placing extra emphasis on ground-based air defense, with Germany and France leading the European effort to furnish equipment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Telegram post that “Ukraine’s sky shield is getting more powerful literally every month.”
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