Russia launches a major missiles and drones attack on several Ukrainian regions

The head of Ukraine’s air force said on Thursday that air defense systems destroyed seven missiles and 32 drones launched by Russia overnight.

The Ukrainian official said on Telegram that Russia had launched a total of 51 missiles and drones.

He said Russian forces had attacked vital military installations and infrastructure in Ukraine, but gave no further details.

Ihor Terikhov, mayor of Kharkov in eastern Ukraine, said in a separate statement that vital infrastructure in the city had been bombed overnight and that four people had been injured.

On the other hand, the Russian defense ministry said, air defenses shot down eight Atacams missiles over the Sea of Azov and intercepted eight drones over the Black Sea near Crimea on Thursday.

Earlier, a Russian-appointed official in Crimea said missile debris damaged two ferries near the city of Kerch and traffic on the ferry line there was suspended.

Separately, Russian authorities said they had suspended car traffic on the main Crimean bridge linking the peninsula to Russia.

Ukraine said Wednesday that nine people had been killed in four separate regions, as Russia continues to make gains on the frontline as Ukrainian forces struggle to repel them.

In the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, two people were killed in attacks on the city of Nikopol on the right bank of the Dnipro River, its governor Sergei Lesak said.

The governor of the frontline region of Donetsk, which the Kremlin says is part of Russia, said three people were killed on Tuesday in separate attacks.

In the southern region of Kherson, which the Kremlin also says it annexed in 2022 though it is still fighting for control of the Black Sea region, the governor said Russia had bombed housing and infrastructure facilities.