KYIV, June 11: Russian forces launched a drone assault across Ukraine, killing three people and wounding 64 others. The city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine was hit by 17 attack drones, which struck two residential districts. Emergency crews, municipal workers, and volunteers worked to extinguish fires, rescue residents from burning homes, and restore gas, electricity, and water services. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for greater international pressure on Moscow and reiterated his calls for an end to the killings and diplomacy.
Kharkiv has been frequently targeted in recent months as Russia launched repeated large-scale drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure. Moscow’s forces have launched waves of drones and missiles in recent days, with a record bombardment of almost 500 drones on Monday and a wave of 315 drones and seven missiles overnight on Tuesday.
The attacks come despite discussions of a potential ceasefire in the war. The two sides traded memorandums at direct peace talks in Istanbul on June 2, but the inclusion of clauses that both sides see as nonstarters make any quick deal unlikely.
On Wednesday, strikes caused widespread destruction in Kharkiv’s Slobidskyi and Osnovianskyi districts, hitting apartment buildings, private homes, playgrounds, industrial sites, and public transportation.
Ukraine’s air force reported that 85 attack and decoy drones were fired over the country overnight. Russia has returned 1,212 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers in line with an agreement reached during the talks in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian delegations. (AP)
