Russia Strikes Kill Eight in Ukraine as Trump Meets Zelenskiy at United Nations
Escalation of Attacks and International Response
Sept 22 (Reuters) - Russia killed eight people in strikes on Ukraine's industrial heartland and other frontline areas, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was meeting US President Donald Trump at the United Nations.
Moscow stepped up airstrikes over the summer, and has been attacking economic targets ranging from businesses and ports to logistics hubs, with its advances on the ground largely stalled more than 4-1/2 years into its war in Ukraine.
Targeting of Economic Infrastructure
"Russia deliberately targets businesses, farms, warehouses, railways, energy facilities and residential buildings," Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi said on Telegram.
Ukraine has also increased long-range strikes in recent months, targeting Russian oil refineries and big online retailers in an effort to undermine Moscow's war effort.
Ukrainian Counterstrikes
The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday it had hit a Russian oil refinery in the city of Ufa, more than 1,300 km (800 miles) from the border with Ukraine. It also said it had struck the Kuibyshev oil refinery in the Samara region on the Volga river.
The Samara region governor said Ukrainian drones hit civilian targets in the region, killing one person and injuring four. Both sides deny targeting civilians.
Energy Targets and Truce Breakdown
Trump said last week that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to strike energy targets, but any semblance of a truce disappeared when Russia hit petrol stations in Kyiv the following day and Ukraine bombed a Russian oil refinery.
Strikes on Three Industrial Cities
Continuing attacks on Ukraine's economic infrastructure, Moscow hit industrial enterprises in the cities of Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih and Pavlohrad in the southeastern region of Dnipropetrovsk, regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said on Telegram.
Economic Significance of the Region
The region is home to machine building, steelmaking and other major production.
Casualties and Damage
A Russian missile strike on a facility in Dnipro owned by Interpipe, Ukraine's largest pipe producer, killed four people and wounded seven, the company said.
Prosecutors said Russian attacks on the southern region of Kherson killed two people and the regional governor said one person was killed near the Black Sea port of Odesa.
Police in the eastern Donetsk region, the focal point of much of the frontline fighting, said Russian aerial bombs killed one person in Kramatorsk, one of the "fortress towns" that Russia would like to capture.
A mass airstrike on the town of Izium, in northeastern Kharkiv region, injured seven people, local officials said.
Details of the Russian Barrage
The overnight Russian barrage included an unspecified number of Oniks anti-ship and ballistic missiles, as well as four cruise missiles and 212 drones, Ukraine's air force said.
Russia's defence ministry said its forces hit industrial and military facilities in Ukraine, targeting the fuel and energy sector as well as port infrastructure facilities and sea vessels serving the Ukrainian military.
Oil and Gas Facility Hit
Businesses were also damaged in Pavlohrad and Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskiy's hometown, Hanzha added.
Impact on Energy Infrastructure
A Russian attack on an energy facility in a neighbouring region cut power supplies to nearly 100,000 consumers in the northern region of Chernihiv, an electricity distributor said.
Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz said at least five ballistic missiles had hit idle technological facilities at an oil and gas site in the central region of Poltava. The attack caused critical damage and in effect made it impossible to restore and operate the facility, it said.
History of Attacks on the Facility
The facility, which it did not name, had been a frequent target of Russian drone and missile attacks since 2022, it said.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Ron Popeski and Chris Reese)
