Ukraine launched in the early hours of Saturday a wave of drones over Russia, setting fire to a fuel depot according to a Ukrainian Defense source, and the two countries accused each other of murderous attacks against civilians. A key vote is planned for Saturday in the US Congress on aid of 61 billion dollars (57 billion euros) expected for several months by kyiv. Ukraine “can no longer wait” in the face of Russian pressure, declared its President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday during a videoconference with NATO, calling in particular for at least seven additional Patriot anti-aircraft systems. Ukraine is facing ammunition shortages and is unable to protect all of its cities and energy infrastructure, which have been regularly targeted by the Russian army for several weeks. kyiv continues to request ammunition and anti-aircraft systems from its partners to counter these Russian strikes, but divisions in Europe and especially in Washington have slowed down deliveries. On Saturday, a Russian strike killed two people in northeastern Ukraine and Ukrainian cross-border shelling killed at least three people on the Russian side, including a pregnant woman. Ukraine declared that Russia had launched strikes on residential buildings in Vovchansk (north-east), a town located about five kilometers from the Russian border, leaving two dead and two injured. – Heap of ruins – “A direct strike was recorded on a nine-story residential building,” according to the regional prosecutor’s office. “A woman and a man were injured. They are each 61 years old. In other places, two men aged 50 and 84 died after the bombing of the city.” Rescuers in front of a building hit by a Russian strike in Dnipro, April 19, 2024 in Ukraine © AFP – Anatolii Stepanov The governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Synegubov, shared a photo showing a pile of ruins near a collapsed part of a multi-story residential block. Russia fired at least seven missiles at Ukraine overnight, two of which were shot down by anti-aircraft defenses, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. < p>At the same time, a Ukrainian Defense source told AFP that kyiv had targeted eight Russian regions overnight in a “large-scale” drone attack targeting “the energy infrastructure that supplies the complex Russian military-industrial”. “At least three electrical substations and a fuel depot were hit and caught fire,” added this source. It was a “joint operation” of the Ukrainian security services (SBU), military intelligence services (GUR) and the armed forces. < img alt = "press service from the Ukrainian presidency" SRC = "https://img-4.linternaute.com/2n_17jnqha1_wim9ppnqudlsa=/600x/smart/966da88884d16b9ebfb721a301 2291.jpg " /> Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (l) rewards a Ukrainian serviceman on the front line in the Donetsk region, April 19, 2024 © Press service of the Ukrainian presidency – Handout The Russian Ministry of Defense did not mention this depot affected according to kyiv, indicating however that it had intercepted 50 Ukrainian drones during the night, some of which were hundreds of kilometers from the Ukrainian border and even near Moscow. Videos posted on social media showed a huge fire raging at a fuel depot in the western Russian region of Smolensk that Governor Vasily Anokhine said was caused by the fall of downed drones. – Retaliation – Ukraine, faced with the Russian invasion for two years, is increasing its attacks against Russia in recent weeks, particularly targeting refineries. kyiv has promised to bring the fighting to Russian soil in retaliation for the numerous deadly bombings on its territory. Ukraine: positions of military forces © AFP – Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS, Cléa PECULIER In the Russian region of Belgorod, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported at the start of the day two deaths in Ukrainian drone attacks and then the death of a pregnant woman during subsequent bombings.< /p> A residential building and a barn in the village of Poroz, less than two kilometers from the border, were “completely burned down”, according to Mr. Gladkov. Another building was seriously damaged. “Due to the launch of two explosive devices, a private residential building caught fire. Tragically, two civilians died – “a woman being treated for a broken femur and a man caring for her,” the official wrote on Telegram. He then said that Ukrainian bombing caused the death of a pregnant woman in Novaya Tavoljanka, a village near the border with Ukraine. All rights of reproduction and representation reserved. © (2024) Agence France-Presse
By Teilor Stone
Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116