OMM Redaksiyası
Russian forces launched a large-scale wave of missile, drone and artillery attacks across Ukraine, killing eight people and injuring at least 25 others, according to Al Jazeera.
Ukraine’s Air Force said on Saturday that Russia had launched 174 drones from Russian territory and the annexed Crimean Peninsula, as well as two Zircon anti-ship missiles from Russia’s Kursk region.
Ukrainian air defences intercepted or jammed 141 incoming targets, with debris reported in nine locations, the Air Force said on Telegram. It added that the two Zircon missiles had not reached their targets.
Civilian casualties and damage
In the Kharkiv region, Russian attacks on 14 settlements killed five people and wounded 15, regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. The strikes caused extensive damage in areas including Balakliya and Lypkuvativka.
Three people were killed and five injured in the Kherson region, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported. High-rise buildings, private homes, a mobile phone tower and a gas pipeline were damaged across 25 communities.
The Dnipropetrovsk region also came under more than 10 attacks across four areas, involving drones, artillery and aerial bombs, regional administration head Oleksandr Ganzha said. Two people were injured, while warehouses in Dnipro, an outpatient clinic in Pavlohrad, a shopping centre in Nikopol and homes in Kryvyi Rih and Synelnyky were damaged.
Two vessels hit in the Black Sea
Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had used Geran-4 loitering drones to strike two commercial vessels in the Black Sea. It identified them as a Ukrainian dry cargo ship sailing towards Odesa and a tanker moored at the port of Odesa.
The ministry claimed both vessels were carrying military supplies. The allegation was not independently verified.
Poland raises air-defence readiness
Poland scrambled fighter jets and raised the readiness of its air-defence systems during the Russian attacks on neighbouring Ukraine. The country’s Operational Command said military aviation operations had begun in Polish airspace because of nearby Russian drone activity.
The command later said the operation had ended and ground-based air-defence and radar units had returned to normal duty. It confirmed that there had been no violation of Polish airspace, while the armed forces continued monitoring the situation.
Russia’s Defence Ministry also claimed advances on several sections of the front line, saying its forces had gained more than 5,300 square kilometres this year, including 670 square kilometres in September. It reported progress towards Zaporizhzhia and said the heaviest fighting was near the Kramatorsk-Slovyansk area.
