WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine says Russia launched 139 drones overnight

Ukraine's air force said on Saturday it shot down 67 of 139 Russian drones launched overnight, while another 71 disappeared from radar without reaching their targets.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian strike on Donbass city kills one and injures 10 – authorities

The Ukrainian military has launched a missile strike targeting the center of the city of Makeevka in the Russia's Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), the region’s head Denis Pushilin said on Saturday. The attack hit a residential area, killing one person and injuring 10 more, he relayed.

Russian air defense systems were able to intercept the Ukrainian missile, but its fragments nevertheless fell in the central city district, Pushilin said in a statement published on his official Telegram channel. Several apartment blocks as well as 15 cars were damaged in the strike, he added. Makeevka is an eastern suburb of the region’s capital, Donetsk.

According to Pushilin, a child was among those injured in the attack. Everyone who was hurt in the strike is receiving all the necessary medical aid, he said.

A video from the scene obtained by the Ruptly video agency shows firefighters and emergency services assessing the damage dealt to one of the apartment blocks in Makeevka. The building is seen visibly affected by the attack, with most of its windows smashed and many balconies either destroyed or severely damaged. Burnt out pieces of car wreckage can be seen in the yard near the building.

Another clip which was also obtained by Ruptly showed apartments in one of the damaged buildings filled with broken furniture and littered with debris and shattered glass.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has sharply condemned the attack, blaming it both on Kiev and its Western backers. The strike demonstrates the “Nazi nature” of the Ukrainian government, the ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement, adding that the country’s military had deliberately targeted a densely populated area. “We resolutely condemn this criminal act of terrorism,” she said.

According to Zakharova, the Western governments that continue to “pump” Ukraine full of weapons are responsible for the attack alongside the country’s military. She also called on all the “responsible governments” and international bodies to condemn the attack.

Russia has consistently accused Ukraine of launching strikes on civilian targets amid the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev.

Earlier this week, Russian officials accused Ukraine of striking a school vehicle in Zaporozhye Region. According to its governor, Evgeny Balitsky, the attack seriously injured the bus driver and also wounded five children.

Earlier, DPR officials also stated that another Ukrainian strike in the area had injured 10 civilians in one day.

Reuters/RT