Seven killed in exchange of attacks between Russia and Ukraine

Seven people were killed today in Russia and Ukraine in an exchange of attacks, four of them in Russian strikes on Ukraine, officials said.

Russia carried out a series of attacks on Ukraine with cruise and ballistic missiles, powerful “glide bombs,” and jet-powered drones, while progress on the front line has slowed nearly four and a half years since Moscow launched its invasion of the neighboring country.

“It is of crucial importance that our partners do not forget: Russia is escalating its attacks every day. If the Russians have decided to make their attacks even more brutal, the world must respond with stronger measures to prevent further spread of the war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote this morning.

He cited “numerous attacks on residential buildings” in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia, as well as in the Odesa, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions.

Two women in Zaporizhzhia were killed, buried under the rubble of their home, the regional military administration reported.

Two more people were killed in a Russian attack on the city of Sumy, local officials said.

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced today that an attack on Kyiv damaged a data center that supported mobile internet services as well as Starlink satellite communication systems.

This week, Zelensky, in a speech at the United Nations in New York, called on all countries of the world to use sanctions and trade bans to “deny Russia the revenues” with which it finances the war.

Despite years of diplomatic efforts, there are no signs of progress toward ending the war.

Ukrainian long-range drones are attacking Russian oil refineries and business facilities. In a Ukrainian drone attack on the southern Krasnodar region today, three people were killed and two were injured, Russian officials said.

The governor of that region, Veniamin Kondratyev, wrote on Telegram that the Ukrainian attack caused a fire at two industrial facilities, but did not provide further details, while Russian media reported that an oil refinery was hit.