Russian Shelling Of Kherson In Southern Ukraine, Sumy Region in East Injures At Least Four

A woman holds her cat, which was carried by a firefighter out of an apartment building damaged by Russian shelling in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on December 19.

A drone attack in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson and Russian shelling in the eastern region of Sumy injured at least four people, authorities said late on December 19.

Two people, including a child, were injured in Kherson, according to the head of the city's military administration, Roman Mrochko.

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Kherson military authorities said a child and a woman were injured as a result of the attack, which damaged a school, houses, and garages.

Around 10:30 p.m. local time authorities reported more Russian shelling from the opposite bank of the Dnieper River. Russian troops shell the Kherson region, including the city of Kherson, from their positions on the opposite bank nearly every day.

In the Sumy region, the military administration reported two people were injured by Russian shelling of several villages and towns.

The Russian military regularly attacks the Sumy region and others bordering Russia using with various types of weapons.

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The attacks on December 19 occurred as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a year-end news conference that Russia had not achieved any of its war aims in Ukraine in 2023, although he conceded Ukraine still faces "lots of challenges."

Hours after the news conference ended Russia launched a fresh air attack on Kyiv, prompting air-defense systems to engage, the military administration of the region that surrounds the Ukrainian capital said.

The extent of the attack was not immediately clear. The military administration urged people to stay in shelters.

Earlier on December 19, Ukraine’s air force said it had shot down two Russian drones in the Starokostyantyniv district of the Khmelnytskiy region in the country’s west.

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Russian troops targeted the region from Russia's Primorsko-Akhtarsk district using Iranian-made Shahed drones, according to the press service of the Ukrainian Air Force.

Starokostyantyniv, where a Ukrainian military airfield is located, came under Russian missile attacks last week.

Russia said Ukrainian forces had attempted to attack Moscow with a drone, but air defenses destroyed the aircraft, and debris fell outside the center of the capital.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin initially announced the drone attack without saying whether Kyiv was responsible or saying where the drone had been launched from.

With reporting by AFP