10/27/2023 8:55 pm (current 10/27/2023 9:00 pm)
There is no end to the fighting in sight ©APA/AFP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported a “significant increase” in the number of Russian casualties last week — “exactly as it should be,” he said in his evening video address. It refers to fighting in several places on the approximately 1,000-kilometer-long front. The information cannot be independently verified. There is no Russian statement.
According to official reports, several people were injured in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson as a result of heavy Russian shelling. More than ten residential buildings in the city center were damaged, the head of the city administration, Roman Mrotschko, said on Telegram on Friday. According to the regional administration, seven people were injured in the city. Three women were taken to hospital, the head of the region’s military administration, Olexander Prokudin, wrote late in the evening. The town of Beryslaw was also bombed and another person was injured.
It is currently unclear whether it was artillery fire or a rocket and drone attack. At least it was known that two Russian-made combat drones had been intercepted in the area. Meanwhile, the neighboring region of Mykolaiv also reported shelling. According to its own information, Ukrainian air defense intercepted three air-launched Ch-59 guided missiles there.
According to the government, a fire station in Kiev was hit by a Russian missile attack in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv. At least eight firefighters were injured, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko wrote on Telegram. Images from the news portal showed a destroyed building and damaged emergency vehicles. The attack was on the city of Izjum.
Meanwhile, Russia has once again handed over dead soldiers to Ukraine. The bodies of 50 Ukrainians were handed over to Kiev by the Russian side, the coordination team for prisoners of war affairs announced on Friday. The International Red Cross helped with mediation, he said. It was not announced whether the dead were also handed over to Russia.
The warring parties repeatedly exchange dead or captured soldiers. Ukraine has been defending itself from the Russian war of aggression for more than 20 months. Tens of thousands of soldiers have already died.