Russian missiles have struck cities and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin received Iran's strong support for his military operation.
The regional governor in the eastern city of Kramatorsk said one person was killed in an airstrike on Tuesday that hit an apartment building. Fresh blood stained the concrete amid green leaves that were from trees as nearby apartments on two floors burned. Russian forces also fired seven Kalibr cruise missiles overnight at the Odesa region in southern Ukraine.
“There was no one here. Everything is ruined,” said Halyna Maydannyk, a resident of one burned apartment. “Who knows why they’re doing this? We were all living peacefully.”
Kramatorsk residents Mykola Zavodovskyi and Tetiana Zavodovska stood in bandages outside a hospital. The Associated Press reportedthat they heard a loud clap and went to their balcony to investigate, then everything exploded and the windows shattered.
“Probably it was a rocket, and probably it was brought down by Ukrainian forces,” Zavodovska said.
Ukraine claimed to have shot down a Russian fighter jet in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine. A U.S. official reported Russian plans to annex Ukrainian territory that it has captured, and he forecast that more U.S. weapons will go to supply to Ukraine.