A local resident rides a bicycle near a destroyed bridge, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the town of Pokrovsk, near a front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine December 19, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Russian troops have captured the village of Kostiantynopolske in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday (December 21, 2024).
Reuters could not independently confirm the report about the village, called Ostrovsky by Russia.
The settlement lies 10 km southwest of Kurakhove, which Russian troops have stormed and are threatening to encircle, according to DeepState, a Ukrainian group mapping the fighting.
Meanwhile, Ukraine brought the war into the heart of Russia on Saturday morning with drone attacks that local authorities said damaged residential buildings in the city of Kazan in the Tatarstan region, over 1,000 km from the front line.
The press service of Tatarstan’s governor, Rustam Minnikhanov, said that eight drones attacked the city. Six hit residential buildings, one hit an industrial facility and one was shot down over a river, the statement said.
A video posted on local Telegram news channel Astra, verified by The Associated Press, shows a drone flying into the upper floors of a high-rise building.
Local authorities said there were no casualties. Flights were halted at Kazan’s airport and all mass gatherings cancelled on Saturday and Sunday.
The attacks, which Ukraine didn’t acknowledge in keeping with its security policy, comes after a Ukrainian attack Friday on a town in Russia’s Kursk border region using U.S.-supplied missiles killed six people, including a child.
Moscow sent 113 drones into Ukraine overnight into Saturday, Ukrainian officials said. According to Ukraine’s Air Force, 57 drones were shot down during the attacks. A further 56 drones were “lost,” likely having been electronically jammed.
The governor of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, said eight persons were wounded on Friday night in drone attacks on the regional capital, also called Kharkiv.
Published – December 21, 2024 10:49 pm IST