Russian authorities report five dead in drone attack on apartment block

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian drone strike in Russia’s Kursk region killed at least five people on Saturday, local authorities said, while rescue workers dug through the rubble in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro after a Russian attack destroyed a nine-story residential building and killed one person.

Two children were among the victims of the Ukrainian attack in the village of Gorodishche on the Russian-Ukrainian border, Governor Alexey Smirnov said on social media.

At least one person died and 12 were injured in Dnipro, including a seven-month-old girl, when a Russian attack destroyed the top four floors of an apartment block on Friday evening, regional chief Serhii Lysak said.

The attacks came as Russia continues to expand its Ukrainian troops in several areas along the 1,000-kilometer front. Moscow has stepped up its airstrikes to deplete Ukraine’s resources, often targeting energy facilities and other vital infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the country had lost about 80 percent of its thermal power and a third of its hydroelectric power due to Russian strikes.

Zelensky said of the attack in Dnipro that it was a reminder to Ukraine’s allies that the country needs more air defense systems. The Ukrainian Air Force announced on Saturday that it had shot down ten Russian drones overnight.

“That is why we constantly remind all our partners: only a sufficient number of high-quality air defense systems and only a sufficient level of determination on the part of the world as a whole can stop Russian terror,” he said.

Kiev also struck back at Russia with its own air strikes, which also often targeted the energy infrastructure.

In its morning statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said that six Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight over the Tver, Bryansk and Belgorod regions, as well as over the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. It did not provide any information on the reported attack in the Kursk region.

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