KYIV, March 14 (Reuters) – Russia hammered Ukraine with missiles and drones overnight, killing at least four people and causing damage across five regions of the country, officials said on Saturday.
The main target was energy infrastructure in the Kyiv region, said President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, adding that residential buildings, schools, and businesses were also damaged.
He said the Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv regions were also targeted in an attack that included around 430 drones and 68 missiles, most of which were downed by air defences.
“Russia will try to exploit the war in the Middle East to cause even greater destruction here in Europe, in Ukraine,” Zelenskiy wrote on X, asking Kyiv’s allies to boost production of critical air-defence weapons.
The four fatalities occurred in the Kyiv region, where 15 people were also wounded and damages recorded in four districts, according to regional military administration chief Mykola Kalashnyk.
Russia has carried out regular air strikes on Ukrainian towns and cities behind the front line of its four-year-old war, including on energy facilities and critical infrastructure.
Ukraine’s energy ministry said on Saturday that consumers in six regions were without power after Moscow’s overnight strikes and shelling of front-line areas.
The attack also prompted NATO member Poland to scramble jets to protect its airspace, but no violations were observed, Warsaw’s military said on Saturday.
(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by William Mallard and Toby Chopra)
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