Ukraine says Russian drone attack kills boy, two adults in Sumy
June 24 (Reuters) - A Russian drone attack on a village in the Sumy area overnight killed an 8-year-old boy and two adults and injured another three people, the military administration of the region in northeast Ukraine said early on Tuesday.
"The strike took the lives of people from different families," the administration said on the Telegram messaging app. "They all lived on the same street. They went to sleep in their homes. But Russian drones interrupted their sleep - forever."
The full scale of the overnight attack on the region was not immediately clear.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in their attacks, but thousands of civilians have died in the war that Russia started with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
14 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Ukrainian commandos 'sent inexperienced Brit, 20, on "suicide mission" into no-man's land then left his body to rot after he was cut down by Russian fire'
Ukrainian commandos sent an inexperienced British fighter on a 'suicide mission' before leaving his body to rot in no-man's-land, his heartbroken mother has claimed. Colby Dolman, 20, was killed when his unit was cut down by Russian fire as they joined forces aiming to liberate the village of Mali Scherbaky in Zaporizhia Oblast, south east Ukraine. The former carpenter, from Cleethorpes, Lincs, had been in Ukraine just over a year when he was sent on a number of abortive missions alongside more experienced soldiers in an offensive mounted by the National Guard of Ukraine. Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, his mother, Tara Benford, 37, said: 'He should never have been sent out, he did not have the experience or the training, it was a suicide mission. 'He was one of four young men who died side by side and they have been left to rot on the battlefield, as far as we are aware he is where he fell more than a month ago. 'It is heartbreaking. Myself, his stepfather and his seven-year-old brother will have no peace or comfort until his body is returned to us but we simply don't know where to turn. 'We have had no help from the Ukrainian authorities. They were happy to have Colby's help when he signed up to train and fight alongside them because he wanted to make a difference in the world. 'But this is the thanks he receives, he is killed on a mission he should never have been sent on and left where he lay. 'I have terrible nightmares where I dream of him lying there and reaching out for help from me or anyone who can just bring him home. It is unbearable.' The family have now launched a GoFundMe appeal to try to raise £6,000 to bring Colby's body home, saying no help has come from Ukrainian authorities or British officials. Colby left the UK for Ukraine on March 24th last year and began training for the Ukrainian military on his arrival in Kyiv. He had no previous experience as a fighter having been unable to win a place as a recruit in the British Army because at the time he had been prescribed an asthma inhaler. He told his mother he wanted to go and fight in the Ukraine, a prospect which horrified her. She said: 'I begged him not to go and told him he had no way of knowing what he was walking into. That is something I would now ask any parent to consider very carefully after what has happened to him. 'But he wanted to make a difference, he was angry at what was happening to the people of the Ukraine and he felt he could do something about it. He wanted to go out there and fight and ultimately he was old enough to make his own choices. 'He left last March and was in constant contact. He seemed to have found his calling in life. He was enjoying military life, had fallen in love with the country and his comrades had become great friends. 'Despite the endless worry of him being out there I was pleased to see him happy and proud that as a young man was so determined to do the right thing.' It was in autumn last year that Colby completed his training and was assigned to the Revanche Tactical Group, formed in March 2022 in response to Putin's invasion. He found himself fighting under the command of Bohdan Khodakovskyi alongside troops from around the world, including Ukrainian soldiers as well as British, American and Brazilian fighters. His family feel that although he had learnt a lot and had become a courageous soldier he was not equipped for the battles ahead. Ms Benford said: 'The mission in Mali Scherbaky seemed doomed from the start, it was the fourth offensive he had been on and I'm convinced he knew he would not be coming back from it. 'On the first offensive Revanche launched, a military vehicle was blown up causing multiple injuries, but no one died. 'In the second one, Colby was part of a team of five in which two of his comrades were killed and the mission aborted for a second time. 'The third attempt on the same village was done during darkness and they wore night vision and thermal cloaks and were moving into position when they realised there was a drone above them. 'They were trapped and there was nothing they could do. The drone dropped an explosive device which actually landed on Colby's foot, but it failed to explode. 'It shook him very badly and he sent a message to me to say 'this mission is f***ed up' and I begged him not to go back there and he promised he would not go back. 'After he died I received messages from members of his unit saying he should never have been asked to go to Mali a fourth time. He didn't have the training or the experience. 'But he was sent again and I suppose he had no option but to obey orders and move out. 'His final message to me was different to any of the others he had sent. Before that he would say 'I love you Mum, I will contact you when I get back, don't worry about me.' 'But his last message said 'the mission is 7-15 days, do not contact anybody before then.' 'I think he knew he would not be coming back and did not want me contacting his friends to ask if he was safe. 'I find it heart-breaking that he went out there feeling that way but he was in no position to refuse his orders.' Tara's partner Ashley Dolman, 35, and their son Archie Dolman, seven, received the devastating news he had been killed via a soldier from his platoon that he had been killed on May 10th. One of the four who died alongside him was Gabriel 'Benito' Ferreira Silva, a young Brazilian soldier who Revanche paid tribute to following his death. No similar tribute had been paid to Colby. It said: 'Benito' was the soul of the company – an ideological and passionate warrior. Gabriel fully embraced the religious, ethical, and ideological principles of our unit, which led him to cross thousands of kilometres from Brazil to join the fight in Ukraine. 'He trained with dedication and was always a model of discipline. Cultural barriers meant nothing to him — he immediately became one of us, fully integrated with the Ukrainian part of the unit.' Tara has pleaded for help from Labour MP from Grimsby and Cleethorpes Melanie Onn, has contact Downing Street and the British Embassy in Kyiv, all to no avail. She said: 'We are desperate for help, for someone to help bring my boy home. 'He should be here with us, playing with his younger brother and taking his dogs out in the woods. It's enough to cope with that we have lost him, but the knowledge he is still out there somewhere is more than we can stand.'
Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
Netherlands to send 175 million euros of military aid to Ukraine, expands drone cooperation
THE HAGUE, June 24 (Reuters) - The Netherlands will provide Ukraine with 100 drone-detection radars and 20 medical evacuation vehicles as part of a new 175 million euro ($202 million) aid package, Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on Tuesday. Delivery of the radars, which will help identify incoming drones and relay data to air defence systems, is expected to be completed by year-end. In a statement on Friday, the Dutch Defence Ministry specified that 80 million euros of the package will go towards drone support through the international drone coalition. The move on Tuesday follows a 500 million euro deal to produce 600,000 drones with the Ukrainian defence industry, Brekelmans said ahead of a NATO Summit in The Hague. The Netherlands has pledged about 10 billion euros in military support for Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasionin early 2022. ($1 = 0.8629 euros)
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Zelensky's message to UK as he meets soldiers
Volodymyr Zelensky visited Downing Street on Monday (23 June) to deliver a special message to the UK. Alongside Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, he met with Ukrainian troops being trained by Britain and other allies under Operation Interflex. Zelensky thanked the United Kingdom for its support in Ukraine's fight against Russia. He also praised soldiers from Finland and Romania who were present at the No. 10 garden. Watch the full video above.
