Russia hammers Kyiv with Iranian drones
As Ukrainian forces zero in on the southern city of Kherson, occupied by Russian troops since early in the war, the Kremlin-picked leader of the Kherson province is urging civilians to “take your children and leave’’ for Russia.
Vladimir Saldo said Thursday on Telegram that Ukrainian missile strikes are hurting civilians and damaging buildings, and he asked the Kremlin to organize evacuations from four cities, including Kherson.
Saldo said Kyiv is retaliating against Kherson — one of four Ukrainian regions Moscow claims to have annexed — for supposedly voting to join Russia last month in elections widely discredited as shams. Ukraine has maintained it doesn’t target its own civilians.
“We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if there is such a desire, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes … go to other regions (of Russia),” Saldo wrote.
Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said later in the day that Russia would provide free accommodation to residents of the region who wanted to relocate.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive has been pushing deeper into Kherson province, although officials acknowledged recently the momentum has slowed as Russia reinforced its front lines.
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Other developments
►Russian attacks killed 13 people and wounded 37 across Ukraine in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian presidential office said. Three of the deaths occurred in the southern city of Mykolaiv when missile strikes destroyed an apartment building, but an 11-year-old boy was pulled out of the rubble.
►NATO defense ministers gathered in Brussels for a second day of talks to assess the situation in Ukraine after the alliance committed on Wednesday to deliver more air defense supply to the country.
►The Ukraine Air Force said it destroyed at least four Russian helicopters in an 18-minute stretch Wednesday in the southern part of the country.
►The Ukraine military estimates more than 63,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded in the war. Russia has released no figures, and Ukraine does not announce its own losses.
►Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, thanked Vladimir Putin for what he said was Russia’s support organizing the upcoming soccer World Cup, which starts Nov. 20.
Russia hammers Kyiv with Iranian drones
Russian bombs delivered by Iranian-built drones hammered the Kyiv region Thursday as Ukraine’s capital again took the brunt of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deadly wrath.
The attack comes three days after damaging missile strikes that marked the first assault on the city since the early days of the war, when Russia’s march to Kyiv was driven back by Ukrainian forces.
“Another attack by kamikaze drones on critical infrastructure facilities,” the deputy head of the presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said on Telegram. “The relevant services are already … documenting the consequences of shelling. Do not neglect safety, stay in shelters during alarms!”
The British Defense Ministry has said the low-flying drones were unlikely to provide strike options deep into Ukrainian territory,…
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