Russian forces launched attacks in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region on Tuesday, killing at least six people, regional officials said, after the expiry of a ceasefire. Ukrainian officials said Russia launched more than 200 drones overnight, putting an end to hopes that the three-day ceasefire that ended on Monday would be extended.
A drone attack on an apartment building in the president’s home town, the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killed two and injured four, including the dead couple’s nine-month-old granddaughter whose leg was severed, said the regional governor and local military administration head.
North-east of Kryvyi Rih, an aerial bomb strike killed four and injured three, said officials. “After the end of the partial three-day ceasefire, Russia continues to kill and maim Ukrainians and pressure on it must therefore in no way be weakened,” said Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president.
Zelenskyy said drones were intercepted over several regions but reported damage to energy facilities, apartment buildings, a kindergarten and a civilian locomotive. In Kyiv, debris from a downed drone fell on the roof of a 16-storey residential building in the northern Obolon district, sparking a fire, said the mayor, Vitali Klitschko. Two people were hurt in the central Cherkasy region, and damage was also recorded in the Zhytomyr region, farther west, and in the Chernihiv region on the Russian border.
Two people were injured in strikes on the south-eastern city of Dnipro and the southern city of Kherson. Russian drones also hit energy infrastructure in the Mykolaiv region, causing blackouts in the region, said Vitaliy Kim, the regional governor.
Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces struck gas facilities in Russia’s central Orenburg region more than 1,500 km (900 miles) from Ukraine’s borders. “Overall, Ukraine’s current position on the frontline, in our long-range [strikes] and in our joint results with our partners are at their highest level in years. We must maintain this level and continue to achieve results,” Zelenskyy said in an address to the nation.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv was working with its allies in Europe to develop technologies to defend against ballistic missiles, adding that 13 countries and Nato representatives had participated in talks on the issue on Tuesday.
Signs that Vladimir Putin’s position is weakening could open a window to ending the war in Ukraine, the EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said on Tuesday. Putin over the weekend suggested that the war in Ukraine was “heading to an end” after more than four years of bloodshed. “What his statement really shows is that he’s not in a strong position,” Kallas said after a meeting with EU defence ministers. “So I think there’s an opportunity for ending this war.”