James ChatterAnd
Henry Moore
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Seven people were killed and 11 others injured after a drone struck a passenger bus traveling through a Russian-controlled part of Ukraine, an official said.
Denis Pushilin, the Kremlin-installed leader of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, said the bus was struck early Wednesday while traveling between Moscow and Simferopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Black smoke could also be seen rising above St. Petersburg on Wednesday morning, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirming that the city’s oil terminal had been hit.
The attack comes as the city hosts the annual International Economic Forum, an event designed to showcase Russia to the world.
Strikes occur the next day a massive Russian attack in cities across Ukraine killed at least 22 people, including several women and children.
Regarding the drone that hit the bus in Donetsk, Pushilin said: “In Enakiyevo, a drone attacked a Moscow-Simferopol bus; according to preliminary reports, seven civilians were killed.”
He added that the 11 injured were receiving medical treatment.
Ukraine has not commented on the incident.
Drones were shot down over Belgorod, Kursk and other western regions, as well as near Moscow and over the Sea of Azov, Russian officials added.
In total, Russia claims to have shot down 350 Ukrainian drones overnight.
At least 50 drones were shot down over the Leningrad region, northwest of Moscow, according to regional governor Alexander Drozdenko.
The region includes St. Petersburg, which hosts delegates from around the world for the economic forum on Wednesday.
“Important facilities on Russian territory were hit last night,” Zelensky wrote on X, sharing a video of black smoke rising above St. Petersburg.
He called the strikes “long-range sanctions” and said Ukrainian forces had also struck military targets in Russia’s Tambov region.
Reuters
Reuters
The nighttime strikes saw Pulkovo Airport temporarily restrict flights, according to Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia.
Separately, an 86-year-old woman was killed overnight following a drone attack in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region, said Yaroslav Shanko, head of the city’s military administration.
It comes as part of a wider attack by Moscow overnight, with Ukraine’s air force saying Russia launched 198 drones in several different regions, of which 189 were shot down.
The latest wave of strikes comes a day after Russia launched one of its biggest attacks on Ukraine since beginning its full-scale invasion in 2022.
At least 22 people were killed after Russia launched more than 700 missiles and drones overnight Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the strikes were a response to previous Ukrainian attacks, saying in a statement that the “strike objectives” had all been achieved.
The Kremlin said Tuesday it was carrying out promised “systematic strikes” after accusing kyiv of a deadly attack on a student dormitory in an occupied part of eastern Ukraine in late May.
Kyiv said it hit a Russian military unit.
“This practice will continue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday, asserting that the strikes targeted Ukrainian military infrastructure.
