Russia blasts Ukraine with more aerial attacks as part of an intensified campaign

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles, bombs and drones battered three regions of Ukraine in targeted nighttime attacks, officials said Friday, as Russia mounts an intensified aerial campaign that Ukrainian officials say they need more Western help to counter — even as doubts deepen over what Kyiv can expect from a new U.S. administration.

Since the war began almost three years ago following Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor, the Russian military has repeatedly used its superior air power to blast civilian targets across Ukraine. More than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the conflict, according to the United Nations.

A 500-kilogram (about 1,000 pounds) glide bomb severely damaged a high-rise apartment building in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, in the middle of the night, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said. At least 25 people, including an infant, were injured, he said.

Glide bombs, for which Ukraine has no effective countermeasure, obliterate their targets, sending out a powerful shock wave and often leaving a wide crater.

In the southern city of Odesa, a Russian drone attack killed one person and injured nine others overnight, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said.

In the capital Kyiv, falling wreckage from intercepted missiles injured four people, regional Gov. Ruslan Kravchenko said.

In total, Russia fired 92 drones and five missiles at Ukraine during the night, Ukraine’s air force said. Four missiles and 62 drones were intercepted, and 26 drones were jammed electronically, it claimed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country needs more help to fight back against Russia’s military might, even as uncertainty deepens about what Western aid Ukraine can expect after Donald Trump was elected this week as the next U.S. president.

“It is important to act together and decisively at the international level every time Russia tries to destroy our lives,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. “This is the only way to achieve a just peace and stop the deaths of our people.”

Russia launched about 2,000 drones at Ukraine in October, about one-third more than the previous month, making it the third month in a row that there was a significant rise, the U.K. Defense Ministry said Friday.

Russian fire rates have climbed since the middle of the year, it said, adding that the latest high monthly numbers will likely become the norm.

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