13 killed in Russian and Ukrainian attacks on civilian areas

KYIV — Russian and Ukrainian attacks on civilian areas across towns and cities, many near the front lines of the more than four-year war, killed at least 13 people on Thursday, according to local officials.

A Russian guided bomb strike on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed three people and injured 15 others, regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram.

Reuters TV footage showed firefighters putting out fires while emergency crews searched through the rubble of damaged buildings. Zaporizhzhia has faced intensified Russian attacks in recent weeks.

Russian missiles also struck the Black Sea port city of Odesa, killing two people, injuring six others, and damaging civilian infrastructure.

Near Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv, close to the Russian border, a Russian drone attack killed one person, according to Ukraine's emergency services. Earlier in the day, another drone strike near Kupiansk, farther east, killed three people.

In Ukraine's Donetsk region, where much of the fighting continues along the 1,200-kilometer (775-mile) front line, regional officials said one person was killed and five others were injured near Kramatorsk, one of Ukraine's heavily fortified defensive cities.

Across the border in Russia's Belgorod region, local officials said one person was killed after Ukrainian forces shelled a settlement near the border.

Meanwhile, Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-installed head of the Russian-controlled areas of Donetsk, said one person was killed in territory under Russian control.

Reuters could not independently verify the accounts provided by either side. -Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani/Reuters