Russia, Ukraine exchange accusations over deadly drone attacks

• Zaporizhzhia governor says 3 killed, 2 injured in Russian airstrikes on administrative center of southeastern region

ISTANBUL

Russia and Ukraine on Monday traded accusations over latest drone attacks that killed at least six people.

Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-installed head of Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014, said on Telegram that several facilities on a sanatorium in the resort town of Foros were damaged by a Ukrainian drone attack.

Aksyonov said a school building in the town was also damaged in the attack, and that fragments from downed drones caused a fire near the resort city of Yalta.

He said three people were killed and 16 others injured in Foros.

Separately, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses shot down 114 Ukrainian drones overnight, 10 of which were intercepted over Crimea.

According to the ministry, the strike in the resort area, where, it said, there are no military facilities, took place at approximately 7.30 pm local time (1630GMT). the ministry also called it a “terrorist attack.”

Meanwhile, Zaporizhzhia Governor Ivan Fedorov said three people were killed and two others injured in an attack on the southeastern region’s administrative center.

In a statement on Telegram, Fedorov said the attack took place at about 4.30 am local time (0130GMT), and that at least five aerial bombs had fallen on the city of Zaporizhzhia.

Fedorov said 15 multi-story buildings and 10 private buildings were damaged in the attack. “None of the objects were related to military infrastructure. This was a targeted terror of a peaceful city and its residents,” he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on US social media company X that search and rescue efforts continued in Zaporizhzhia, and expressed condolences to the families of the victims.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force claimed that its air defenses downed 132 out of 141 drones launched by Russia overnight, as well as reported on the attack in Zaporizhzhia, during which it claimed that the launch of aerial bombs was recorded near the Moscow-controlled city of Tokmak.

Independent verification of the claims is difficult due to the conflict that has continued since February 2022.