Two people were killed and 12 others injured in reciprocal missile and drone attacks between Russia and Ukraine in the early hours of Monday, hitting industrial and port facilities and infrastructure in both countries as strikes targeting areas far from the front line intensified.
Casualties and Russian strikes in Kharkiv and Odesa
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said one person was killed and six others injured in a Russian missile strike targeting the industrial district of Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine. In the Odesa region, Governor Oleh Kiper said intense Russian air strikes targeted infrastructure, industrial and port facilities. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 205 drones overnight, adding that 172 were intercepted.
On the Russian side, the governor of Belgorod Region said one person was killed and six others injured in Ukrainian attacks targeting areas within the region. Russia’s Defence Ministry said air-defence systems destroyed 199 Ukrainian drones overnight. It added that the interceptions took place over the regions of Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga, Kursk, Oryol, Ryazan, Tula, Rostov and Moscow, as well as Krasnodar Krai, the Republic of Crimea and the Black Sea.
Ukrainian energy facilities and ports targeted
The ministry said Russian forces had continued carrying out drone attacks on energy facilities and ports in Ukraine, as well as vessels it said were being used to support the Ukrainian armed forces. It also announced that a dry cargo vessel had been targeted at sea south of Odesa, claiming it was carrying a military consignment.
It said the strikes also hit fuel and lubricant storage facilities at the port of Chornomorsk, describing them as being intended to supply Ukrainian forces. The ministry added that a dry cargo vessel inside the port was targeted, saying it was carrying military equipment, along with a facility at the port of Vylkove that it said was used to transport military consignments.
The targets also included the Kochetok electricity substation in Kharkiv Region, according to the ministry. The attacks come amid escalating reciprocal deep strikes by the two countries in the fifth year of the war, targeting vital facilities and sites linked to energy, food and communications.
