Russian Strikes Leave 31 Injured In Ukraine

Russian strikes injured over 30 people in Ukraine overnight, according to officials on Friday, just a day after Kyiv and Washington signed a historic minerals agreement.

Ukraine anticipates that the deal will lay the groundwork for Washington to offer security guarantees to the country, which has been engaged in a prolonged conflict with Russia for more than three years.

“Twenty-nine people were wounded as a result of a nocturnal attack by the enemy,” on the industrial city of Zaporizhzhia, regional governor Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram, adding that a 13-year-old boy was among the victims of the drone strike.

“The Russians have struck the city’s civilian infrastructure. Residential buildings, a university, and an infrastructure facility have been damaged,” Fedorov wrote.

Two men were injured in a Russian drone attack in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, with fires igniting at two locations, according to Governor Sergiy Lysak on Telegram.

Ukraine’s national railway company reported that its locomotive repair plant in Zaporizhzhia was heavily attacked overnight, resulting in a fire that burned for hours, although no injuries were reported.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed that its air defenses shot down 121 Ukrainian drones overnight, most of which were intercepted over Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.

This latest wave of strikes followed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement regarding the minerals deal with the U.S., which he described as offering “equal” benefits to both parties, despite the fact that the agreement did not include specific security guarantees for Kyiv.

Zelensky called on Ukraine’s allies to increase pressure on Russia, urging them to force Moscow into negotiations.