RUSSIAN DRONE STRIKES KILL 4 IN KYIV REGION INCLUDING 3-YEAR-OLD

Russian overnight attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region killed at least 4 people, including a 3-year-old child, according to Ukrainian officials on Saturday. Two of the child's grandparents were killed in drone strikes on a residential building in the Brovary district, northeast of the capital. The strike also injured four others: the child's parents, his 15-year-old brother, and a neighbour who came to assist the family. All four injured were hospitalised with thermal burns and shrapnel wounds.

Ukraine's air force reported that it downed or intercepted 135 of 151 drones launched by Russia overnight. The attack also involved six ballistic missiles and other guided missiles, according to reports. In Kyiv city proper, one additional person was killed and four others wounded. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on X that the residential building was ordinary and that "the Russians could not have been unaware of this". He called the strike that wounded the neighbour a "double-tap strike", a tactic that targets people attempting to assist those already struck.

Zelensky reiterated Ukraine's need for additional military support, including stronger sanctions on Russia and anti-ballistic missile weapons. He listed ten other regions that came under attack overnight: Donetsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv and Poltava. Zelensky is currently on an official visit to Serbia, where President Aleksandar Vučić said his country will support Ukraine's territorial integrity with "no buts" during a joint press conference.