Tragedy struck the frontline town of Kupiansk in northeastern Ukraine on Tuesday as Russian airstrikes claimed the lives of six individuals, according to regional officials. This devastating incident underscores the continued pressure faced by a region where Russian forces have maintained an offensive stance.
The updated casualty count in Kupiansk contributes to a grim toll, with a total of nine lives lost in Ukraine on that fateful day. The attack took place in the northeastern Kharkiv region, situated near the border with Russia, and came on the heels of an overnight attack by a swarm of drones in the western city of Lviv, which resulted in the destruction of warehouses and claimed one life.
Oleg Synegubov, the regional governor, confirmed the tragic toll in Kupiansk, stating on social media, “The number of dead has increased to six people. Four men and two women were killed in Kupiansk as a result of an enemy attack from a guided aerial bomb.” He further added that emergency services were actively engaged at the scene of the explosion.
Russian forces had earlier captured significant portions of the Kharkiv region during the invasion launched in February 2022. However, Ukrainian troops have managed to mount a determined defense, pushing back against the aggressors.
In the southern town of Kherson, another incident claimed a life as a policeman lost his life when a trolleybus was hit, with two passengers sustaining injuries, according to Roman Mrochko, administration chief for the city. Tragically, one of the wounded individuals, a 57-year-old man, succumbed to his injuries later on.
Governor Maksym Kozytsky of Lviv region, situated approximately 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from the frontlines and close to Poland, had earlier reported a casualty resulting from a Russian drone attack during the night. An AFP reporter in the area heard the sound of drones followed by explosions. While seven of the drones were successfully shot down, warehouses in Lviv suffered direct hits, leading to a fire. In the aftermath, the body of a 32-year-old man was discovered amid the charred remains of a building, while a 26-year-old was hospitalised, and a 68-year-old received medical attention at the scene.
A particularly distressing consequence of the attack was the destruction of a warehouse belonging to the non-governmental organization Caritas-Spes, which housed 300 tonnes of emergency supplies. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) expressed its condemnation of the Russian strike, with OCHA Ukraine coordinator Denise Brown emphasising the intensification of attacks against humanitarian resources throughout the year, and the dire impact on those suffering from the consequences of the ongoing conflict.
The Ukrainian army reported that 27 out of 30 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia during the night were successfully shot down, further highlighting the escalating tensions and relentless challenges faced by Ukraine in this protracted conflict.
