KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian attack struck a grocery store and a pharmacy in a Ukrainian village close to the border with Russia on Wednesday, killing three people including a 14-year-old girl, authorities said, as the Kremlin’s forces kept up their barrages of urban areas of Ukraine.
The strike on Lyptsi, some 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border, also injured a 16-year-old boy and a woman, officials in the northeastern Kharkiv region said. They did not specify what kind of weapons were used.
Another strike with guided aerial bombs “completely destroyed” a hospital in Vovchansk, a town that also lies close to the border in the Kharkiv region, injuring a man, authorities said.
With the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line barely budging in recent months, Moscow’s army has kept parts of eastern and southern Ukraine under relentless bombardment as the war stretches into its third year. The power grid has also been a common target.
That has prompted Ukrainian leaders to plea for more air defense systems and ammunition from Western partners.
Ukrainian air defense forces destroyed 14 out of 17 Shahed attack drones launched by Russia overnight Wednesday, a statement said. Some missiles got through.
The attacks destroyed energy infrastructure in Mykolaiv and Odesa, according to the governors of the southern regions.
In Mykolaiv, 12 Shahed attack drones were destroyed by air defenses during the night but one hit energy infrastructure, regional Gov. Vitallii Kim said. There were no casualties.
Russia attacked the Odesa region with drones and missiles in two waves, Gov. Oleh Kiper said.
The first barrage included strike drones targeting energy infrastructure, and hours later missiles struck transport and logistics infrastructure, injuring two people, he said.
Meanwhile, rescue workers recovered the bodies of two more people, including a 13-year-old boy from the rubble of a building partially destroyed during a Russian aerial bomb attack in Kostiantynivka, eastern Ukraine, on Tuesday.
In total, three people died as a result of that attack, Ukraine’s emergency services said.
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