This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
A Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian cities of Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Kramatorsk late on April 8 wounded more than two dozen people and damaged multiple residential buildings, local officials said.
Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said that “Dnipro suffered the most” from the overnight Russian attack, which wounded at least 15 people, leaving almost all of them in serious condition.
“People have cuts, shrapnel wounds, bruises, and head injuries. Some needed help due to severe stress,” Lysak said.
Lysak added that the attack damaged 15 private houses and nearly two dozen cars. According to him, several business facilities, administrative buildings, and the city’s infrastructure were damaged.
Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, and the eastern city of Kramatorsk were also hit by the Russian drones.
Local authorities said more than 20 explosions were heard in Kharkiv, injuring at least two people.
Five others were injured in Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk region.
“An 11-year-old girl, her 34-year-old mother and a 55-year-old grandmother were wounded in the attack,” said the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, Vadym Filashkin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for support from Ukraine’s partners “to save as many people as possible.”
“War does not abate from talks and statements, and Moscow ignores any diplomacy because they believe they have the liberty to do so,” Zelenskyy said on X.
The Ukrainian Air Force said that it shot down 32 out of 55 drones launched by Russia overnight, with another eight “not reaching their targets.”
Ukraine Claims ‘Successful Actions’
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a post on the Telegram that its air defense units destroyed 158 drones overnight, including 29 over the southern Rostov region.
Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said that several airports in Russia’s south were closed early on April 9 to ensure air safety.
Ukraine’s top military commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy, claimed that Kyiv had recently conducted “successful” strikes on Russian air bases.
“A few days ago, our successful actions destroyed a Tu-22M3 long-range bomber. It had just landed and our drone hit it,” he told Ukrainian media outlet LB.ua.
Syrskiy claimed that the cost of such a plane could be as high as $100 million.
On the ground, according to the latest report by the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian forces are currently pursuing three different objectives in their attempt to capture the crucial city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region.
“The situation immediately south and southwest of Pokrovsk remains extremely dynamic amid intensified Russian offensive operations,” the report said.
With Russian forces spending the last 13 months trying to capture the city, the ISW further underlined that Ukrainian drone operations and localized counterattacks are continuing to complicate Moscow’s advances in the area.
Earlier, this month, a unit of Ukrainian drone pilots stationed in Pokrovsk told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service that they have become a high-value target for Russian forces.
On March 26, Zelenskyy said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “trying to buy time and prepare for a spring offensive.”
According to him, Russia was preparing a new offensive, particularly in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
Syrskiy said that offensive has already started.
“We are seeing an almost doubling of the number of enemy offensives in all major directions,” he told LB.ua.
The ISW report said Russian forces also recently advanced in Russia’s Kursk region, parts of which are controlled by Kyiv, and conducted a raid into Ukraine’s neighboring Sumy region, but “likely did not establish new positions.”
In the interview, however, Syrskiy again hailed Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Kursk last August, saying the operation was “critical” to the defense of the Kharkiv region.
Late on April 7, Zelenskyy acknowledged publicly for the first time that Ukrainian troops are now holding new positions inside Russia — this time in the Belgorod region.
“We continue active operations in the enemy’s border areas and this is absolutely justified… Our main objective remains the same: to protect our land and our communities in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions,” he said.
© American Military News
