Ukraine said on Wednesday that a massive overnight Russian air assault left at least four railway workers injured and inflicted damage on critical infrastructure.
The attacks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin attended a military parade in Beijing, to mark the end of World War II, at which Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that the world faced a choice between peace and war.
Air raid alerts sounded for hours across Ukraine, with explosions heard in nine of its 24 regions, from Kyiv to Lviv and Volyn in the west, Ukrainian officials and media said.
Ukraine’s air force said it downed 430 of 502 drones and 21 of 24 missiles launched by Russia overnight, adding that three missiles and 69 drones struck 14 locations.
Ukraine’s western neighbour and NATO member, Poland, activated its own and allied aircraft to ensure safety, its armed forces command said.
Railway Workers Wounded
Four railway workers in Ukraine’s central Kirovohrad region were in hospital after the Russian attack, the state-owned railway said on messaging app Telegram, flagging delays of up to 7 hours to scores of services following damaged facilities.
The railway workers were among five injured in the major rail hub of Znamianka, where 28 houses were also damaged, Ukraine’s emergency services said on Telegram.
In northern Chernihiv, the attack cut power to 30,000 consumers and damaged critical civilian infrastructure, Governor Viacheslav Chaus said.
Public transport in the western city of Khmelnytskyi faced “significant schedule disruptions” after the attack, its administration said on Telegram, with the regional governor flagging fires and damage to residential buildings among others.
Firefighters in the Ivano-Frankivsk region were battling flames that engulfed 9,000 sq m (10,800 sq yards) of storage facilities, emergency services said.
There was no immediate comment from Russia. Both sides deny targeting civilians in their strikes in the war that Russia launched with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
(With inputs from Reuters)
