6 killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine as Kyiv continues drone counterstrikes

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Six people have been killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past 24 hours, local officials reported Sunday.

Two people were killed and three more injured in the Kherson area after more than 100 shells bombarded the region over the weekend, local governor Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on social media.

Two guided bombs later hit key infrastructure in Kherson city, sparking a partial blackout and disruption to the area’s water supply, reported the head of the city’s military administration, Roman Mrochko.

Local officials said two more people had died in the Donetsk area and that a 57-year-old man and a 54-year-old woman had been killed by an airstrike that destroyed their home in the Kharkiv region.

Meanwhile, the Russian defense ministry announced Sunday that Ukraine had launched 27 drones in an overnight attack on western Russia.

Officials said that 18 drones were shot down over the Kursk region, leading to speculation in the Russian press that the attack could have been targeting the nearby Khalino military airfield.

Images on social media showed burning debris just 1.5 kilometers (a mile) from the airbase, which was previously attacked by Ukrainian forces at the end of September.

Writing on social media, Kursk governor Roman Starovoit said that debris had fallen in the region’s namesake capital and the nearby village of Zorino. No casualties were reported.

Officials also said that two more drones had been shot down over Russia’s Belgorod region, but did not confirm the fate of the remaining seven drones.