Russian drones kill two in Kharkiv and cut power across Ukraine
Russian drones killed two people in Kharkiv on Friday, Reuters and the Kyiv Post reported. Reuters said a third person died in the Volyn region. Attacks on nine regions cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes, and the U.N. said at least 328 civilians were killed in Ukraine in September, AP reported.
Russian drones killed at least three people across Ukraine early Friday, hit two shopping centers and knocked out power to around 370,000 in the northwest after strikes on the energy grid, Reuters reported.
Russia launched 149 drones at Ukraine overnight into Friday, Ukraine's Air Force said, according to hromadske and NV. As of 9:30 a.m. local time, air defenses had shot down or suppressed 114 of them, hromadske reported.
In the eastern city of Kharkiv, two people died, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said, Reuters and the Kyiv Post reported. He had earlier put the death toll at three, Reuters said. The dead were a 71-year-old woman and a 58-year-old man, and Mayor Ihor Terekhov said both were market traders, the Kyiv Post reported.
Reuters said 12 more people were wounded in Kharkiv. The Kyiv Post said 10 were hospitalized there, including two in serious condition. An attack on critical infrastructure cut electricity to 280,000 customers, Terekhov said, according to the Kyiv Post.
In the northwestern Volyn region, a drone strike on a food-processing facility killed one person and wounded eight, Gov. Roman Romaniuk said, Reuters reported. Crews had reconnected about 100,000 people by later in the morning, he said. The blackout in Lutsk could last at least 24 hours, Mayor Andriy Razumovskyi said on Facebook, according to Reuters. Power and water outages in Lutsk began the day before, when drones damaged power lines, BBC News Ukrainian reported.
Drones also hit a shopping center in the northern city of Sumy and one in the Rivne region, Reuters reported. The Sumy strike injured three people, the regional emergency service said, according to the Kyiv Post. Seven people were wounded in Rivne, Gov. Oleksandr Koval said, Reuters reported.
Russian attacks on nine regions caused emergency power outages for hundreds of thousands of households and wounded at least 15 people, officials said, the Associated Press reported.
The U.N. human rights office in Kyiv said in a monthly report Friday that at least 328 civilians were killed and 2,105 wounded in September, 85% more than in September last year, AP reported. "The first two weeks of October were among the deadliest periods for civilians in years," said Danielle Bell, the head of the U.N. office, according to AP.
The strikes came a day after Ukraine abandoned a brief truce on energy targets, AP reported. Russia's heavy bombing of the power grid before winter has been a yearly feature of the war, AP said.
What we know: Russian drones killed two people in Kharkiv and one in Volyn on Friday and cut power to hundreds of thousands, including in Kharkiv and Lutsk.
What we don't: When power will be fully restored, and whether the toll will rise.
Where outlets agree Reuters and the Kyiv Post both report that Russian drones killed two people in Kharkiv and hit a shopping center in Sumy on Friday.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.