Ukraine news: 6 dead and thousands without power amid Russian strikes

KYIV, Ukraine –

At least two people were killed and three more injured after a Russian missile strike on infrastructure in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, said Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Saturday.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials confirmed that the death toll following a Russian strike Friday on the city of Mykolaiv, had risen to four. A child was among the victims, said the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Sienkevych.

Writing about the Mykolaiv strike on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a projectile had hit a playground next to an apartment block.

“Russia proves every day with its terror that ‘pressure’ is not enough,” he said. “This destruction of life must be stopped. We need new solutions to support our defenses. Russia must feel the power of the world.”

Ukraine’s air force said Saturday that Russia had launched four missiles and 17 drones overnight, of which 13 drones had been shot down.

The attacks have left thousands of people without power or running water in the Poltava region of central Ukraine, Gov. Filip Pronin said. Russia has continuously targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, leading to blackouts across the country.

A pulverizing Russian onslaught in recent months has forced Kyiv’s troops to withdraw from some towns and villages in the eastern Donetsk region,

The latest targets are the mining town of Toretsk and the city of Pokrovsk, where Russia is stepping up its assaults. Ukrainian forces repelled 20 and 27 attacks on those areas respectively over 24 hours, Ukraine’s General Staff said Friday. That was almost double the number of assaults recorded at other hot spots along the front line, it said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry also announced Saturday that it had shot down 26 Ukrainian drones over Russia’s southern Rostov region, several hundred kilometers (miles) from the front line. Three more drones were destroyed over the Belgorod region, as well as one over the Smolensk region, it said. No casualties were reported.