Four killed in Russian strike on Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk

Four people were killed in a Russian direct strike on a private home in the city of Kramatorsk, in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, on Thursday evening, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne reported, citing the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Honcharenko. 

The Donetsk region Prosecutor’s Office later confirmed news of the attack, adding that the victims were three brothers, 19-year-old twins and an 8-year-old, and a 63-year-old man. 

The dead boys’ 43-year-old mother and 65-year-old grandmother were also injured in the strike, the Prosecutor’s Office said, adding that an investigation had been opened to establish what weapon was used in the attack.

The Slovyansk-Kramatorsk urban conglomerate, in the part of the Donetsk region that remains under Ukrainian control and which Kyiv is facing huge pressure to sacrifice in the name of peace, remains a primary strategic goal for the Russian army. 

In Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, one person was killed and another six were injured, three of whom are in a serious condition, in overnight drone attacks there, Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said on Friday.

The attacks come a day after some 300,000 people were left without running water and close to 200 apartment blocks without heating in the city of Odesa after another Russian night of massive strikes.

In Orikhiv, in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, which has seen a recent uptick in fighting, a 57-year-old woman was killed and a man was injured in another overnight attack as they sat in a parked car, independent Russian outlet RusNews reported on Friday.

On Friday morning the Ukrainian Air Force said that its air defences had either shot down or neutralised 111 drones across the country overnight, while missile strikes and 22 drone impacts were recorded at 18 locations, and falling debris at a further two.