Russia pounded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and missiles overnight and Saturday as part of a stepped-up bombing campaign that killed at least six people and wounded dozens, officials said.
Two people died and 26 were wounded when Russian forces overnight attacked the Bukovina area in the Chernivtsi region of southwestern Ukraine with four drones and a missile, regional Gov. Ruslan Zaparaniuk said Saturday. He said that the two died from falling drone debris.
Another drone attack in Ukraine’s western Lviv region wounded 12 people, regional Gov. Maksym Kozytskyi said. Poland’s air force scrambled fighter jets in areas bordering Ukraine in response to the overnight attacks, which targeted again a region that is a crucial hub for receiving foreign military aid.
Three people alsos were wounded in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine when the city was hit by eight drones and two missiles, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
Russia fired 597 drones and decoys, along with 26 cruise missiles, into Ukraine overnight into Saturday, Ukraine’s air force said. Of these, 319 drones and 25 cruise missiles were shot down and 258 decoy drones were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.
Two people were killed Saturday morning in a missile strike in the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to regional Gov. Serhii Lysak. Two other people were killed Saturday in the Sumy region by a Russian guided bomb, local officials said.
Russia has been stepping up its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities. Earlier this week, Russia fired more than 700 attack and decoy drones, topping previous nightly barrages and targeting Lutsk near the border with Poland in western Ukraine.
Russia’s intensifying long-range attacks have coincided with a concerted effort to break through parts of the roughly 620-mile front line, where Ukrainian troops are under severe pressure.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down 33 Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday.
One person was wounded Saturday in a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Belgorod region and another in the Kursk region, both of which border Ukraine, local officials said.
