At least nine killed in Ukraine strikes as Kyiv says it downed Russian warplane

Russian strikes on Ukraine in the early hours of Friday killed at least nine people, including three children, as Kyiv said it shot down a Russian strategic bomber for the first time.

Moscow said a military plane crashed over the south of the country while returning to base from a combat mission after suffering a technical malfunction.

The downing of a Russian bomber used to fire cruise missiles at Ukraine would be a highly symbolic win for Kyiv, which has been pounded by hundreds of overnight Russian aerial strikes since Moscow invaded more than two years ago.

The latest overnight Russian strikes on the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region killed at least nine people and injured more than a dozen, Ukrainian officials said Friday.

“A child who was heavily wounded during a massive enemy attack on the Dnipropetrovsk region today died in hospital. The death toll had now risen to nine, including three children,” the office of Ukraine’s Prosector General said in a statement on Telegram.

Strikes were recorded on the region’s Synelnykivsky area – where at least two children, aged six and eight, were among those killed – and the regional capital of Dnipro, the interior ministry said.

“Unfortunately, the number of victims is expected to rise. The rubble of the damaged buildings is being cleared,” Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said in a post on Telegram.

(AFP)

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