Russia has accused Ukraine of carrying out a drone attack on a holiday camp in the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia region that allegedly killed at least 12 civilians, including five children. Moscow claimed the strike targeted a civilian facility, while Ukrainian officials did not immediately comment on the allegation.
According to Russian-installed authorities in the region, the attack took place at a holiday camp in Kyrylivka, a coastal resort area near the Sea of Azov. Officials said at least 12 people were killed and 19 others were injured in the attack. Emergency teams carried out rescue operations at the site, recovering bodies and rescuing survivors, including a child, from the rubble, according to Reuters.
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Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova condemned the strike on the camp, stating that Ukrainian drones targeted "sleeping people." She denounced the action as an "inhuman crime" by Kyiv and also pointed to a separate drone attack on a factory in Russia's Kirov region on Thursday that claimed six lives.
The allegations came as Russia and Ukraine continued exchanging drone and missile strikes across the region. Moscow reported launching overnight attacks on Ukrainian targets, while Kyiv said Russian strikes hit several areas, including the capital Kyiv and the northeastern Sumy region.
In Kyiv, Russian ballistic missile attacks caused fires in at least three districts after debris fell from intercepted weapons. The air alert was lifted after around 50 minutes. Separately, a Russian drone strike in Sumy killed three people, according to Ukrainian officials.
The latest escalation follows a series of retaliatory attacks, with both sides accusing each other of targeting civilian areas while denying deliberate attacks on non-combatants. The conflict, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has continued to see repeated strikes on infrastructure and populated areas.
Meanwhile, as per AFP, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war during a forum in Omsk, Siberia. Tokayev called for the conflict to be frozen and suggested returning to previous Istanbul peace talks, warning about the continued loss of young lives.
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