Russia strikes south, east Ukraine; kills 8 civilians

Kyiv: Russian attacks on 11 re gions across Ukraine overnight killed at least eight civilians and wounded others, authorities said Saturday, as fierce fighting continues in Ukraine's attempts to dislodge Russian forces from territory they have occupied.

The regional prosecutor's office in the eastern Donetsk region said that at least four people, including a married couple, were killed as Russian forces on Friday night shelled the settlement of Niu-York, south of the city of Bakhmut - the site of the war's longest and bloodiest battle until it fell to Moscow in May.

Three other Niu-York residents were hospitalized. Also on Saturday morning, Ukraine's interior ministry said that two civilians died as Russian forces Friday struck Kostiantynivka, a city in the Donetsk region, from multiple rocket launchers.

In a post on its official Telegram channel, the ministry said that another civilian was wounded in the same attack, which also destroyed 20 private homes, cars and a gas pipeline.

Two people were also killed near the northern city of Chernihiv, some 100 km (62 miles) from the Russian border, as Russian cruise missiles destroyed the local cultural centre and damaged apartment blocks, the regional military administration reported on Saturday morning.

It did not specify the exact time of the attack, saying only it took place within the previous 24 hours. Three civilians were wounded as Russian troops overnight shelled a town neighbouring the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, local Gov Serhiy Lysak reported Saturday.

Ukrainian officials have regularly accused Moscow of using the Zaporizhzhia plant, which Russian forces captured early in the war, as a base for firing on Ukrainian-held territory nearby.

Fears have also mounted that Russia might sabotage the plant - Europe's largest - in an attempt to stymie Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive, which has focused on the Zaporizhzhia region as well as the country's industrial east The night passed quietly in the Ukrainian capital, with AP journalists in Kyiv witnessing no air raid alerts.

The Ukrainian air force on Saturday mor ning said that it had overnight brought down 14 Russian drones, including five Iranian-made ones, over the country's southeast, where battles are raging.

In a regular social media update, the air force said that all Iranian-made Shahed exploding drones launched by Russian troops during the night were brought down, pointing to Ukraine's increasing success rate in neutralising them. (AP)