Overnight, Russia attacked various Ukrainian cities with drones causing damage to civilian building and injuring at least one person.

Since the full-scale invasion began in 2022, Russia has been targeting civilian infrastructure daily, particularly homes, schools, and hospitals, to disrupt daily life and instill fear. Russia also attacks power plants and grids, which leads to humanitarian crisis, especially during harsh weather conditions. However, the Kremlin denies all these allegations.

On the night of 2 March, Russian forces launched 79 Iranian-designed Shahed strike UAVs and various types of drone decoys at Ukraine. Ukrainian air defenses successfully intercepted 63 of the attacking drones across thirteen oblasts. An additional 16 drone decoys were “locationally lost without negative consequences,” according to the Air Force statement.

As a result of the Russian attack, Kharkiv, Sumy, Khmelnytskyi oblasts and Zaporizhzhia city were affected.

Zaporizhzhia attack

A Russian strike destroyed the roof of the four-story apartment building in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, resulting in a fire that spread across approximately 300 square meters. Emergency services responded quickly to the scene.

“A 31-year-old woman was injured and has been transported to hospital,” according to Ivan Fedorov, the Governor of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

“I saw her apartment burning. My daughter was in that apartment, and we live nearby, so we came running immediately,” Alla Pryn told Suspilne News.

Her daughter who lived in the affected building managed to run out, while her two cats remained in the apartment.

Vyacheslav lives in the building across the street. He says when he saw the neighboring building on fire, he ran to his car, grabbed fire extinguishers, and began fighting the fire on his own:

“I was in the kitchen preparing dinner, then I heard a sound like something approaching, and then there was a loud explosion. I ran outside. I knew it was somewhere nearby, but I didn’t think it would be this close. I ran into the entrance, there was already fire, and we started calling people in their apartments to help them,” Vyacheslav said. 

In northern Sumy Oblast, local authorities confirmed one explosion which damaged 10 private homes and 4 civilian vehicles.

The Kharkiv Oblast in eastern Ukraine also sustained attacks, with reports from the Bohodukhiv district detailing that a guided aerial bomb struck the village of Turove, damaging three private residences and two outbuildings. The previous evening, an FPV drone hit the village of Zolochiv in the same district, damaging two residential buildings.

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