Russian drones spark fires in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, injure 21

KYIV (Reuters) -Russian forces launched a massive drone attack overnight on Ukraine's Kharkiv region, injuring 21 people and damaging residential buildings and storage facilities, emergency services and officials said on Thursday.

Emergency services said on the Telegram messaging app that the attacks triggered four fires in Ukraine's second largest city, and posted pictures of firefighters battling flames alongside piles of rubble.

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 42 out of 86 drones launched by Russia during the attack. A further 26 drones did not reach their targets likely due to electronic countermeasures, it said.

Governor Oleh Syniehubov said the attack damaged multiple private residences, an apartment building, cars, and a production facility in the city, a frequent target of Russia's military, located some 30 km (18 miles) from the border.

In the town of Zolochiv, the attack set fire to household items and injured eight people, including a child, he said.

"No country should have to go through this," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday. "And against this backdrop, speaking about easing pressure on Russia, lifting sanctions, and so on, is definitely inappropriate and unhelpful."

The United States announced separate agreements with Ukraine and Russia on Tuesday to pause their strikes in the Black Sea and against each other's energy targets, but the rhetoric from Moscow and Kyiv suggested they remained far apart.

A drone attack also triggered fires in the central city of Dnipro where it injured three people, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram.

Reuters video from the scene showed emergency services battling flames and providing aid to a resident injured by flying shards of glass.

The attack damaged over 10 apartment buildings and 60 cars, in addition to enterprises and cultural facilities, Lysak added.

The overnight attacks also left one of the frontline communities in Zaporizhzhia region without power and connectivity, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said.

He did not specify the type of weapon used in this attack or the damage done in the community.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski, Oleksandr Kozhukhar and Anastasiia Malenko; Editing by Sandra Maler and Bernadette Baum)