Russia and Ukraine exchange overnight strikes that leave 7 dead, many injured

Ukrainian drones killed 5 people in Russia’s border region of Belgorod while Russian missiles killed 2 in Kharkiv

Russia and Ukraine exchanged strikes overnight that killed civilians and injured many others on both sides, local authorities reported.

Large-scale Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian cities have become almost routine in recent weeks, with Moscow exploiting Ukraine’s critical shortage of interceptors for the US-made Patriot systems – the sole air defence weapon in its arsenal able to shoot down ballistic missiles.

In the latest attacks, Ukrainian drones killed five people and injured two dozen others, including a four-year-old boy, in Russia’s border region of Belgorod, according to the regional administration.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Russian missiles struck a block of flats block in the Saltivskyi district, killing two people and injuring 13, according to regional head Oleh Syniehubov. Eight more people were injured in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa after “dozens of missiles and drones” struck the city and surrounding region, according to local administration head Oleh Kiper.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has for months lobbied other countries, especially the US, to send Ukraine more Patriot systems made scarcer by the Iran war, arguing they are crucial for defending civilians.

Failing that, Zelensky wants to make Patriot ammunition in Ukraine or get approval from Elon Musk to use his Starlink satellite communications system to guide strikes inside Russia that can hit its missile launchers.