Overnight Russian strikes in northern Ukraine resulted in more than 100,000 households losing power and the water supply being cut off to a regional capital, according to Ukrainian authorities on Saturday. The Sumy region, bordering Russia, was particularly affected as Russian strikes damaged energy infrastructure, leading to a blackout. In addition, Russian drones targeted the provincial capital of Sumy, damaging power lines essential for water pumps.
Reports from a local pro-Kremlin leader cited by Russian state agency RIA claimed that Russian forces hit a plant producing rocket ammunition in Sumy. Explosions were reported in the city during an air raid warning early Saturday, but the specific weapon used remained unspecified and the claim could not be independently verified.
In the east of Ukraine, specifically in the Donetsk region, Russian shelling on Friday and overnight resulted in the deaths of 11 civilians and injuries to 43 others. The town of Selydove witnessed five casualties, while clashes between Ukrainian and Russian forces near Pokrovsk occurred 45 times over the previous day. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced its troops had captured a village east of Pokrovsk.
In a strategically important town, Chasiv Yar, which has been heavily impacted by Russian assaults, three civilians lost their lives. Ukrainian forces retreated from a neighborhood on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, raising concerns about the town’s fall, which could have significant strategic implications and jeopardize nearby cities and supply routes.
Russian forces launched multiple rocket strikes and airstrikes across Ukraine, including the use of “glide bombs,” fueling further devastation in the country. Meanwhile, in Kyiv, Ukrainian service members paid tribute to a British combat medic, Peter Fouché, who died at the frontline while supporting Ukrainian soldiers through Project Konstantin, a charity delivering supplies and aiding evacuations from combat zones.
Fouché, a native of west London, was eulogized in a farewell ceremony at Independence Square in Kyiv. His partner, Halyna Zhuk, co-founder of Project Konstantin, described him as a “true hero.” Fouché had helped establish a field hospital in Kyiv before enlisting in the Ukrainian army and was one of several Britons who lost their lives while volunteering in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
During the same period, in Russia’s Belgorod region, two civilians were wounded due to shelling by Ukrainian forces, and the Russian Defense Ministry reported shooting down eight drones in the Kursk and Belgorod regions. In the Krasnodar province adjacent to Crimea, falling drone debris caused damage, including a fire at an oil depot and destruction of fuel tanks and a cellphone tower, without immediate reports of casualties.
