REVISES HEADLINE, LEDE; ADDS LATEST REMARKS BY DONETSK GOVERNOR; UPDATES INJURED COUNT
By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) – At least eight people were killed and over 40 others injured in overnight Russian airstrikes in four border regions of Ukraine, officials said in separate statements on Sunday.
Mykola Oleshchuk, the commander of Ukrainian Air Force, claimed on Telegram that Russia carried out missile attacks overnight on the border regions of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Donetsk.
The missiles were launched from Russia’s Voronezh and Rostov regions, he claimed, adding that most of the missiles failed to reach their planned targets.
He said eight of nine Russian drones were also intercepted over the southern Mykolaiv region.
On Telegram, Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim reported that 15 residential and commercial buildings were damaged by debris from drones that were shot down.
In the Donetsk region, Governor Vadym Filashkin initially announced that seven people were killed and 15 injured in three different districts, including Kramatorsk, where two people were injured.
Later, Filashkin declared that the number of those injured in Kramatorsk had increased to four, indicating they are all journalists working for the Reuters news agency who were injured after a missile struck a hotel in district's administrative center.
He added that a British journalist may still be under the rubble, adding that search and rescue operations at the hotel are continuing.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi called on the global community to condemn such attacks in a statement on X.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office announced that it launched an investigation into the attack.
The Sumy Regional Military Administration issued a separate statement on Telegram, saying one person was killed and 16 others injured in a missile strike in the region.
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synyehubov said on Telegram that 13 people were injured in Kharkiv and Chuhuiv cities.
Local authorities in the Chernihiv region have not yet reported any casualties or damages.
Russian authorities have not yet commented on the Ukrainian officials' claims.