Tragic Drone Strike Claims Lives of Two Children Amid Ongoing Russian Assault on Ukraine

Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles at Ukraine overnight, resulting in the deaths of at least six individuals, including two children, and disrupting power for tens of thousands, officials reported on Sunday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that these assaults, which injured around a dozen others, indicate Moscow’s intention to «cause suffering» among civilians.

In response to U.S. demands to cease its nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine, Russia has pushed ahead with its ground offensive while intensifying its strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

On Saturday, Kyiv announced the deployment of special forces to the eastern city of Pokrovsk, which is facing a strong Russian onslaught involving many troops.

«Russian forces carried out attacks in the Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, resulting in six fatalities, including two minors,» the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office reported on Telegram.

The victims were boys aged 11 and 14, according to Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets.

The Russian strikes disrupted electricity across the entire eastern Donetsk region and affected nearly 58,000 homes in the southern Zaporizhzhia area, as reported by the governors of both regions.

Kyiv claims that these assaults on energy infrastructure are primarily intended to exhaust the civilian population, a claim that Russia refutes.

The overnight bombardments occurred shortly after Ukraine’s chief military leader revealed the deployment of special forces to Pokrovsk, where the city is facing intense pressure from a significantly large Russian military presence.

Earlier this week, Kyiv indicated that hundreds of Russian soldiers have infiltrated this critical logistics hub.

Additional Russian forces are reportedly advancing on the city’s outskirts in a pincer movement, according to battlefield maps released by the Institute for the Study of War.

Capturing the city would deliver a significant propaganda victory for the Kremlin, which has dismissed calls for a peace agreement concerning the existing front lines.

Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky announced on Facebook Saturday, «A comprehensive operation to eliminate and displace enemy forces from Pokrovsk is currently underway.»

Social media videos claimed to show helicopters approaching the city, including one allegedly filmed by a Russian drone, depicting individuals fleeing from a helicopter that had landed in a field.

In retaliation for Moscow’s attacks on its energy network, Ukraine has conducted strikes against Russian oil and gas facilities.

Early Sunday, a Ukrainian drone strike targeted Russia’s Black Sea port of Tuapse, igniting a fire on an oil tanker and damaging port infrastructure, according to regional officials.

A source within Ukraine’s SBU security services mentioned that the attack also affected the Tuapse oil terminal, owned by Russian oil giant Rosneft.

«Five drones were reported to have struck,» the source informed AFP.

Images circulating on social media appeared to show various fires at the port.

AFP was unable to immediately authenticate these images, and Russian authorities did not respond right away.

Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, characterizing it as a «special military operation» aimed at demilitarizing Ukraine and curbing NATO’s expansion.

Kyiv and its European allies contend that this conflict, the largest and deadliest on European soil since World War II, represents an unprovoked and illegal land grab that has led to widespread violence and devastation.

Since the invasion began, tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians have lost their lives, and millions of Ukrainians have been compelled to flee their homes.