Russian bombardments on Friday claimed the lives of two women and left eight others injured in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy, officials reported, as authorities urged residents near the Russian border to evacuate immediately.
Sumy, which lies just across the border from Russia’s Kursk region, has become a flashpoint since Kyiv launched a surprise offensive on August 6, aimed at creating a “buffer zone” within Russian territory.
According to regional prosecutors, the body of a 37-year-old woman was recovered from the rubble of a building hit during the strike. A 48-year-old woman later succumbed to her injuries in the hospital. The attack also left eight others wounded and ignited a fire.
Regional authorities have called for the evacuation of residents in 183 settlements near the Russian border, citing the ongoing danger from intensified shelling. “It is dangerous to stay in these territories now because the enemy continues to intensively shell the Sumy region,” warned Governor Volodymyr Artiukh. So far, more than 21,000 people have been evacuated from the area.
In separate incidents on Friday, eight people were injured in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and Kharkiv regions, according to local officials. Later in the day, a three-story residential building, an administrative building, and a shop were struck in the town of Kurakhove in the eastern Donetsk region, wounding at least five people, according to the regional state administration.
Meanwhile, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk reported that Ukrainian forces shot down 12 Shahed drones overnight from Thursday to Friday, with four more crashing before reaching their targets.
Russian forces continue to advance in eastern Ukraine, with Moscow claiming on Thursday that it had captured two more villages in the region.
