KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, killing two people and wounding 12, officials said Saturday, as Ukrainian forces damaged more than two dozens Russian tankers and other vessels in the Sea of Azov.
Russian officials said one person was killed in the Ukrainian drone strikes and that only four ships came under attack. Ukraine’s General Staff said 21 tankers used to transport oil and petroleum products were damaged overnight, in addition to four tugboats, two cargo ships and a dredging vessel.
In Ukraine, 11 people, including one child, were wounded in attacks overnight on Kyiv, the State Emergency Service reported. In the southern region of Odesa, two people were killed after a Russian missile struck a building, said regional head Oleh Kiper. Another man was wounded by shrapnel.
Explosions and fires were reported across Kyiv’s Solomianskyi, Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi districts, the emergency service said.
Russia launched 12 missiles, including six ballistic missiles, along with 121 drones against Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. He said most of the drones and some of the missiles were shot down, but the ballistic missiles reached their targets, reiterating Ukraine’s dire air defense gaps.
Ukrainian air defenses said they shot down or electronically suppressed two missiles and 111 drones. The air force said direct hits were recorded at 11 locations.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces targeted drone production facilities in Kyiv, as well as the ports of Izmail and Chornomorsk in the Odesa region.
The ministry also said Russian air defenses destroyed 178 Ukrainian drones overnight over eight Russian regions, as well as over the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula and the Black and Azov seas.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine