KYIV: Russian and Ukrainian strikes killed at least 10 people in total across both sides of the border on Friday (Jul 17), local officials in the respective territories said.
More than four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, strikes from both sides have been intensifying for several months, causing a growing number of civilian casualties.
In Ukraine, two people were killed and eight wounded when a missile hit a residential building in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, said deputy mayor Oleksandr Filatov.
“Among those killed was a woman who was walking in a park with children at the time of the attack. The children survived and are receiving the necessary assistance,” emergency services said.
Residential buildings, a religious institution, a pre-school facility, vehicles and other civilian infrastructure were damaged in the bombardment, Filatov said.
In a later attack on the nearby port city of Mykolaiv, two more people were killed aboard a foreign-flagged civilian vessel, and two other foreign-flagged ships were damaged, local prosecutors said.
Russia denies targeting civilians and said it struck military-related infrastructure across Ukraine’s south. Moscow has stepped up air raids on Ukrainian Black Sea ports in recent weeks.
Farther south, in the frontline city of Kherson, a 70-year-old woman was killed and five others, all elderly, were wounded in Russian attacks, said the city’s military administration.
