At least 11 people have been killed as Russian attacks intensified in northeastern Ukraine

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According to the Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office, six people were killed and 27 injured in a Russian attack on the outskirts of the regional capital, also called Kharkiv.

Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said five more people were killed and nine injured in an attack in Kupyansk district, southeast of the regional capital.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces in the region are “continuing to advance into the depths of enemy defenses.” Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia had increased its attacks around Kharkiv and that the situation was “dynamic.” .

Ukraine’s overstretched armed forces are trying to thwart Russia on the new front by using bomb-laden drones to destroy military vehicles.

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow’s offensive in the Kharkiv region was aimed at creating a buffer zone but that there were no plans to capture the city.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian and Russian forces continued to launch drone strikes on each other.

Ukrainian Air Force officials said Sunday morning that air defenses shot down all 37 Russian drones fired against the country overnight.

In Russia, Russian air defense forces destroyed 57 Ukrainian drones over the southern Krasnodar region overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Local military officials said drone debris hit an oil refinery in the Kuban town of Slavyansk, but there was no fire or damage. The Astra news agency published videos that appeared to show an explosion at the refinery when it was hit by a drone. The videos could not be independently verified.

Nine long-range ballistic missiles and a drone were destroyed over the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula after a Ukrainian drone strike knocked out power in the city of Sevastopol on Friday morning.

Three more drones were shot down over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. According to the region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the roof of a church was set on fire by falling drone debris, but there were no injuries.

The Russian-appointed governor of Ukraine’s partially occupied Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said one person died and 16 were injured Sunday morning when a Ukrainian drone hit a minibus.