KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched over 270 drones at Ukraine overnight, killing at least five people, Ukrainian authorities reported on Saturday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, made unannounced visits to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as Kyiv seeks to use its drone expertise to help Gulf Arab states blunt Iran’s attacks as the war in the Middle East rages on.
Two people were killed and at least 11 more were injured in a nighttime Russian drone strike on Odesa, according to the head of the region, Serhii Lysak. According to Lysak’s Telegram posts, the attack damaged a maternity hospital and private houses in the major Black Sea port city.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the “massive” strike involved more than 60 drones.
“Last night, the Russians launched a massive strike on Odesa. There was no military purpose whatsoever — this was pure terror against ordinary civilian life,” he said Saturday on X. He added that port and “critical” infrastructure were also damaged, as well as business premises.
Two men died and two more were wounded early on Saturday in Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s hometown in central Ukraine, after a Russian drone hit an industrial facility, regional head Oleksandr Gandzha said in a Telegram update. He did not specify what the industrial building was.
