Russian strikes kill 2 in Ukraine as Zelenskyy urges NATO support
- Russian strikes killed two people and wounded five others across Ukraine on Friday, adding to a wave of bombardments that have claimed more than 50 lives over a...
- In the Zaporizhzhia region, a morning strike killed one man and wounded five other people, including a child, according to Mykhailo Semikin, the head of the regional military...
- The recent surge in violence utilizes a combination of ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones.
Russian strikes killed two people and wounded five others across Ukraine on Friday, adding to a wave of bombardments that have claimed more than 50 lives over a three-day span. The Associated Press reported that the latest attacks hit residential areas and warehouse facilities as Ukrainian forces struggle to counter the escalating aerial onslaught. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Moscow is ramping up daily strikes ahead of winter to pressure the country’s war-battered economy and critical infrastructure.
Regional Casualties Across Ukraine on Friday
In the Zaporizhzhia region, a morning strike killed one man and wounded five other people, including a child, according to Mykhailo Semikin, the head of the regional military administration. Svitlana Onyshchuk, head of the regional military administration in western Ukraine, reported that another man was killed in Ivano-Frankivsk. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry stated on Telegram that Russian attacks hit warehouse facilities in the Bucha district of the Kyiv region, wounding three people and leaving rescuers searching for a woman potentially trapped under the rubble.
Escalating Civilian Death Toll and Previous Strikes
The recent surge in violence utilizes a combination of ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones. On Thursday, a Russian guided bomb exploded near public buses carrying passengers in eastern Ukraine, resulting in 30 deaths. A day earlier, a Russian missile strike in the northern town of Pryluky killed 22 people, among them five children.
Zelenskyy Appeals for NATO Defense Packages
With recent targets including energy systems, key industries, railways, post offices, shopping centers, telecom networks, gas stations, and grain exports, President Zelenskyy urged NATO allies on Thursday to translate verbal support into tangible military aid.
It is important that support in words takes concrete form in new packages for Ukraine’s defense. Supplies of anti-ballistic capabilities, ammunition for our combat aircraft and investments in interceptors — all of this is directly helping save lives every day.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Ukraine currently lacks the ammunition for its U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems required to halt Russian ballistic weapons, prompting a race to develop a new generation of interceptors for jet-powered drones.
Cross-Border Drone Attacks Inside Russian Territory
Amid the domestic bombardment, Ukrainian cross-border actions struck targets inside Russia. A Ukrainian attack on the eastern Belgorod region killed two people and wounded 12 others, according to the area’s regional emergency headquarters and regional governor Alexander Shuvayev. In the Kaluga region, a drone strike damaged a data center belonging to Russian technology giant Yandex, completely disabling several modules, the company confirmed. Kaluga regional governor Vladislav Shapsha reported nine injuries from drone attacks, while Tver regional governor Vitaly Korolyov noted a separate drone-sparked fire at a factory in Redkino with no casualties. Russia’s Defense Ministry stated that its air defenses downed 505 Ukrainian drones from late Thursday through early Friday.