Ukrainian drones damage hospital, homes in Russia's Kursk, official says
Ukrainian drones launched a night-time attack on Russia's western Kursk region, damaging a hospital and apartment buildings and injuring at least one person, the regional governor said early on Friday.
Across the border in Ukraine's Sumy region, the regional governor reported fresh fighting in villages near the border toward which Russia has been seizing territory. He said various areas in his region were constantly changing hands.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he wants to create a buffer zone in Sumy, which was used to help launch Ukraine's incursion into Kursk last year.
In the Kursk region, where Russia's military says Ukrainian forces who staged the incursion last August have been ejected, Governor Alexander Khinshtein said Ukrainian drones swarmed the main town, also called Kursk.
'Drone fragments damaged the No. 1 city hospital in Kursk. Windows were smashed. Fortunately, no patients were injured,' Khinshtein wrote on the Telegram messaging app. 'Falling drone fragments have also damaged high-rise apartment buildings.'
Ukraine's military says its forces remain active in small areas of Kursk region.
Authorities in Sumy region, under constant Russian attack for months, acknowledged this week that Russian forces were in control of at least four villages near the border.
'Active battles continue in certain border areas, notably around the settlements of Khotyn and Yunakivka,' Governor Oleh Hryhorov wrote on Facebook.
'The situation on the line of contact is constantly changing. In some places, we hold the initiative; in others the enemy is proving to be active.'
Russia's Defence Ministry on Thursday said its forces had captured three more villages as it slowly advances through parts of eastern Ukraine.
These were Stroivka in northeastern Kharkiv region, where Moscow has long been applying pressure, and Shevchenko Pershe and Hnativka near the town of Pokrovsk, the focal point of Russia's westward drive for months.
Ukrainian military reports have made no acknowledgement of any of the three villages coming under Russian control. A statement on Thursday evening said Russian forces had launched 53 attacks over 24 hours near Pokrovsk.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Britain plans at least six new weapons factories in defense review
MANCHESTER, England: Britain will build at least six new factories producing weapons and explosives as part of a major review of its defense capabilities, the government said on Saturday. The 1.5 billion-pound ($2.0 billion) investment will be included in the Strategic Defense Review, a 10-year plan for military equipment and services. The SDR is expected to be published on Monday. The Ministry of Defense added that it planned to procure up to 7,000 long-range weapons built in Britain. Together, the measures announced on Saturday will create around 1,800 jobs, the MoD said. 'The hard-fought lessons from (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine show a military is only as strong as the industry that stands behind them,' Defense Secretary John Healey said in a statement. 'We are strengthening the UK's industrial base to better deter our adversaries and make the UK secure at home and strong abroad.' The extra investment will mean Britain will spend around 6 billion pounds on munitions in the current parliament, the MoD said. Earlier on Saturday, the MoD said it would spend an extra 1.5 billion pounds to tackle the poor state of housing for the country's armed forces.
Arab News
14 hours ago
- Arab News
Evacuation order for 11 villages on Ukraine border with Russia
KYIV: Authorities in Ukraine's Sumy region bordering Russia on Saturday ordered the mandatory evacuation of 11 villages because of bombardments, as Kyiv feared a Russian offensive there. 'This decision takes into account the constant threat to civilian lives because of the bombardments of border communities,' Sumy's administration said. Russia's defense ministry on Saturday said its forces had taken another Sumy village, Vodolagy, known as Vodolahy in Ukrainian. Russia in recent weeks has claimed to have taken several villages in the northeastern region, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week that Moscow was massing more than 50,000 soldiers nearby in a sign of a possible offensive. A spokesman for Ukraine's border guard service, Andriy Demchenko, on Thursday said that Russia was poised to 'attempt an attack' on Sumy. He said the Russian troop build-up began when Moscow's forces fought Ukrainian soldiers who last year had entered the Russian side of the border, in the Kursk region. Russia has recently retaken control of virtually all of Kursk. Currently, Russia — which launched its all-out invasion in February 2022 — controls around 20 percent of Ukrainian territory. The ongoing conflict has killed tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians on both sides. Washington has been leading diplomatic efforts to try to bring about a ceasefire, but Kyiv and Moscow accuse each other of not wanting peace. The Kremlin has proposed further negotiations in Istanbul on Monday, after a May 16 round of talks that yielded little beyond a large prisoner-of-war exchange. Kyiv has not yet said whether it will attend the Istanbul meeting, and is demanding that Moscow drop its opposition to an immediate truce.
Al Arabiya
14 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Evacuation order for 11 villages on Ukraine border with Russia
Authorities in Ukraine's Sumy region bordering Russia on Saturday ordered the mandatory evacuation of 11 villages because of bombardments, as Kyiv feared a Russian offensive there. 'This decision takes into account the constant threat to civilian lives because of the bombardments of border communities,' Sumy's administration said. Russia in recent weeks has claimed to have taken several villages in the northeastern region.
