Russian drone attacks kill at least one person in Ukraine

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By Vitalii Hnidyi

KHARKIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -Swarms of Russian drones attacked the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Dnipro late on Tuesday, killing at least one person and wounding around 50, officials said.

Kharkiv, which lies in northeastern Ukraine near the border with Russia, has been the target of regular Russian drone and missile attacks since Moscow began its full-scale invasion more than three years ago.

The attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, injured 47 people, including two children and a pregnant woman, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

In Dnipro, in southern Ukraine, a 53-year-old man was killed, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had deployed more than 100 attack drones across Ukraine overnight.

“That is why pressure on Russia is needed – strong additional sanctions that will actually work. It must be pressure, not just words or attempts at persuasion, that forces Russia to cease fire and end the war,” Zelenskiy wrote on social media.

He called for pressure on Russia from the United States, Ukraine’s most important Western ally.

Washington has been trying to broker a peace deal but has threatened to step back as a mediator unless Moscow and Kyiv put forward concrete proposals.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared a three-day ceasefire from May 8-10 to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in World War Two. Zelenskiy wants an immediate ceasefire lasting at least 30 days.

Despite Putin’s ceasefire announcement, Ukraine’s top military commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Wednesday Russian forces had significantly increased the intensity of their combat activity in eastern Ukraine.

DEATH IN DNIPRO

Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said several areas of the city had been targeted. About 1.2 million people live in Kharkiv, compared to nearly 2 million before the war.

High-rise apartment blocks, private homes, a medical facility and civilian infrastructure had been hit, he said.

“I was at home when the strike happened. My child slept in the corridor, I just sat there but couldn’t hear the noise the drones usually make (…) I was about to check my phone, and then the explosion… glass shards hit me in the back,” Darya, a local resident, told Reuters.

“All our windows are blown out, and our balcony is destroyed.”

The attack on Dnipro injured one person in addition to the man who was killed, damaged private homes and caused fires, Lysak said, calling it a “difficult night for Dnipro.”

Both sides deny targeting civilians.

A 45-year-old man was hurt in a Russian attack in a village in the Zaporizhzhia region, which is partially occupied by Russia, regional governor Ivan Fedorov.

Two people were hurt in Russian shelling of the southern city of Kherson, the city’s military administration said.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski, Oleksandr Kozhukhar and Lidia Kelly, additional reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Writing by Ron Popeski and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Timothy Heritage)