Ukrainian firefighters tackle a massive blaze in the Black Sea port city of Odessa in the early hours of Thursday after the region was the target of a Russian aerial assault. Photo courtesy Ukrainian State Emergency Service/EPA
Oct. 9 (UPI) -- A Russian airborne assault against civilian targets in five Ukrainian provinces across the east and south of the country killed five people and injured 19, authorities said Thursday.
The Russian military carried out airstrikes, launched guided bombs and 112 Shahed-type attack and decoy drones overnight, with 22 of the UAVs making it past Ukrainian air defenses to reach targets in 12 locations from Kharkiv in the northeast to Odessa in the southwest.
The highest death toll was in the northeastern province of Sumy where three people were killed and two were injured over the past 24 hours.
Two people were killed and eight were injured in Kherson province in the south, while at least five people were injured in the Black Sea port region of Odessa after port, energy and civilian infrastructure were hit in strikes overnight.
