Dramatic pictures have vividly illustrated the aftermath of a brutal Russian drone strike in eastern Ukraine, with firefighters desperately trying to douse a home engulfed in flames.
Drones have killed two people and injured 13 more over the last day, Ukrainian authorities said today.
Ukrainian forces downed 60 out of 93 drones, including Shahed-type ones launched overnight, claimed the country’s Air Force, with a further 26 drones “lost,” it added.
The residential building in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, was hit by a Shahed drone.
Separately, the wreckage of downed Russian drones reportedly killed a 26-year-old truck driver in 1999 in Kyiv Oblast, acting Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said.
In addition, debris from the drones caused significant damage near Bila Tserkva, setting a house on fire and injuring two people, one of whom was a 16-year-old boy, the State Emergency Service reported. Another woman sustained injuries from the attack near Fastiv in the same region.
Governor Vadym Filashkin confirmed one fatality in Chasiv Yar, a town in Donetsk Oblast, where Russian forces continue to intensify their attacks.
Meanwhile, in Kherson Oblast, Russian shelling targeted 39 settlements, including the regional capital, leaving ten people injured, according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
In the northern city of Sumy, Russian forces launched an airstrike on a residential neighbourhood early this morning.
While no casualties have been reported so far, search and rescue teams are actively working at the site.
Posting on his Telegram channel on New Year’s Day, former Ukrainian Interior Ministry advisor Anton Geraschenko said: “Dr Ihor Zyma, a well-known Ukrainian neurobiologist, was killed together with his wife and cat by today’s Russian drone attack on Kyiv.
“This was reported by a family friend. Deepest condolences.”