The conflict in Ukraine has intensified as Russia launched sustained missile and drone attacks across multiple Ukrainian cities overnight, resulting in at least four deaths amid ongoing peace talks that remain deadlocked over territorial divisions.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that from Sunday evening to early Monday morning (9 Feb), Russia fired 11 guided missiles and deployed over 149 attack drones, including Iranian-made Shahed drones, targeting various areas. Although Ukraine’s air defenses intercepted more than 100 drones and some missiles, several locations were still hit causing casualties.
The widespread attacks impacted civilians in several regions. The key southern port city of Odesa suffered severe damage, with media reporting multiple buildings heavily destroyed. Rescue teams urgently performed CPR under portable lights, with initial reports confirming one male fatality aged 35 and two others injured.
In the northern Kharkiv region, rescue workers found two bodies beneath rubble after drone strikes: a woman and a 10-year-old boy. In Chernihiv, a 71-year-old man was killed by a Russian drone strike while lying in bed at his home in the village of Novhorod-Siverskyi.
Mykailo, a 32-year-old postal worker living in an Odesa apartment, recounted the tense moment hearing the buzzing of a Shahed drone followed by two explosions that shattered his windows and damaged vehicles. Similarly, a 17-year-old student described the blast’s force as strong enough to dislodge the balcony door frame.
This latest attack occurred as Russia continues military pressure despite participating in peace talks mediated by the U.S. Russia’s main objective remains full control over the Donetsk region in the east, while currently occupying about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Although the U.S. government has expressed a desire for the war to end by mid-year, Kyiv and Moscow remain sharply divided over border demarcations and sovereignty of the occupied areas.
. . .AFP