Russian drones are said to have hit a residential building in the city of Sumy in the eastern Ukrainian region of the same name overnight, according to regional authorities. Three people, including a child, were killed.
Over two dozen drones are said to have been shot down over the region, according to officials. Sumy is located near the border with Russia and Kursk, where Ukraine launched an offensive in August and still holds some territory.
Pressure on Tchasiv Yar
A Ukrainian military source said that Russian forces had crossed a key waterway in eastern Ukraine and were approaching the strategically important city of Tchasiv Yar, according to AFP.
Tchasiv Yar, with a population of 12,000 before the Russian invasion, is highly elevated and therefore an important military outpost. A Russian advance on the city would mean that Russian forces could push further into the Donetsk region, according to the Ukrainian military source. There is no immediate danger of Tchasiv Yar falling to Russian troops at the moment.
The enemy has managed to break through our defense line, but it's not an acute defeat and we're not facing the fact that Tchasiv Yar will be lost, the military said on Wednesday.
Deadly Drone Attack
In parallel, one person is reported to have been killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russia-occupied city of Energodar. The deceased worked at a gas station, near which an oil tank caught fire as a result of the attack, according to the Kremlin-friendly administration's reports on the Telegram messaging service.
In Energodar lies the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest.
Two more people are reported to have been killed by a Russian artillery attack in the city of Myrnograd in eastern Donetsk, according to rescue services.
According to the UN, Ukraine's population has decreased by eight million since Russia's large-scale invasion in February 2022, which has led to mass flight and a significant decrease in birth rates.
