Russian strikes kill six in Ukraine as Sea of Azov tanker attacks widen war

Russian missile and drone attacks killed six people across Sumy, Kyiv and Odesa, while Ukraine said it damaged multiple Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov. The overnight strikes highlighted civilian vulnerability, contested battlefield claims and persistent gaps in Ukraine's air defence.

In Short

• Sumy suffered heavy losses after glide bombs struck a crowded civilian area
• Kyiv saw fires across three districts, with eleven people injured overnight
• Odesa recorded two deaths after a missile slammed into a building

Russian attacks on Ukraine killed six people, including a child, and wounded 29, officials said on Saturday, as fighting also spread to the Sea of Azov where Ukrainian forces reported damage to more than two dozen Russian tankers and other vessels.

The overnight attacks hit several parts of Ukraine, including Sumy, Kyiv and Odesa. While Ukrainian officials detailed civilian casualties and damage from missiles and drones, Russia said its forces had struck military-linked targets and also reported repelling a large wave of Ukrainian drones over Russian territory and surrounding waters.

Ukraine's General Staff said 21 tankers used to transport oil and petroleum products were damaged overnight in the Sea of Azov, along with four tugboats, two cargo ships and a dredging vessel. Russian officials, however, said one person was killed in the Ukrainian drone strikes and that only four ships were attacked.

In Ukraine's north-eastern Sumy region, four people were killed, including a child, and 17 were wounded after two aerial glide bombs hit a crowded area where civilians were present, according to regional head Oleh Hryhorov.

In Kyiv, 11 people, including one child, were wounded in overnight missile and drone attacks, the State Emergency Service said. Explosions and fires were reported in the Solomianskyi, Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi districts of the capital.

In the southern Odesa region, two people were killed when a Russian missile hit a building, regional head Oleh Kiper said. Another man was wounded by shrapnel.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia launched 12 missiles, including six ballistic missiles, and 121 drones against Ukraine overnight. He said most of the drones and some of the missiles were shot down, but the ballistic missiles reached their targets, again pointing to gaps in Ukraine's air defence.

Ukraine's air defences said they shot down or electronically suppressed two missiles and 111 drones. The air force said direct hits were recorded at 11 locations.

Russia's Defence Ministry said its forces targeted drone production facilities in Kyiv and the ports of Izmail and Chornomorsk in the Odesa region. It also said Russian air defences destroyed 178 Ukrainian drones overnight over eight Russian regions, as well as over Crimea and the Black and Azov seas.

The overnight fighting left casualties in multiple Ukrainian regions, damage at several locations and sharply differing claims from both sides over the scale of the attacks at sea and in the air.

With PTI Inputs

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