Russian air strikes in eastern Ukraine killed at least 11 people amid Moscow's renewed offensive in the Kharkiv region, government officials said on May 19, while Russia said it came under a drone attack.
The air strikes killed at least five and injured nine others near the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said. Three men aged 58, 64, and 65, and two women aged 56 and 72 died, in the attack, Synyehubov said. Five men and four women were injured, he said on Telegram.
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Police in the Kharkiv region said the shelling occurred in the morning of May 19.
Russian forces also struck a lakeside recreation center near Kharkiv, killing six people and injuring 27, the Prosecutor-General's Office said in a statement. Two of the injured people were police officers, the statement said.
It added that the fate of one employee of the recreation center who was fishing at the time of the attack was unknown.
Earlier on May 19, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of Ukraine's partially occupied Kherson region in southern Ukraine, said that one person died and 16 were wounded when a Ukrainian drone hit a minibus.
Ukrainian troops are fighting to halt Russian advances in the Kharkiv region that began late last week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on May 17 during a visit to China that Moscow’s offensive in the Kharkiv region aims to create a buffer zone but that there are no plans to capture the city.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said that the activity of Russian military forces in the area around Kharkiv had been "somewhat slowed down," adding that eight combat clashes took place there on May 19. The assessment said the Russian forces were still trying to break through the defenses near Vovchansk, Starytsya, and Lyptsi.
In addition, there were 13 attacks in the area around the city of Kramatorsk.
Further south in the area around the city of Kurakhiv in the Donetsk region, the General Staff said Russian troops doubled the number of attacks to 10.
"The situation at the front remains difficult, but at the same time it is controlled by the Defense Forces of Ukraine," it said in its evening assessment. "Our defenders firmly hold their positions, beat the enemy, and destroy their equipment."
SEE ALSO: A New Russian Offensive Stretches Ukrainian Forces. Possibly To The Breaking Point.The Ukrainian military's commander in chief, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy, said on May 17 that the combat zone had expanded by some 70 kilometers in a move meant to force Kyiv, already at a troop disadvantage on the battlefield, to concentrate more soldiers in the area and stretch it thin elsewhere.
Earlier, Ukrainian Air Force officials said air defenses shot down all 37 Russian drones launched at sites across the country overnight.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said several regions of the country plus occupied Crimea came under an intense drone and missile attack early on May 19.
Russian air defenses shot down nine U.S. ATACMS missiles over Crimea along with 57 drones over Russia's Krasnodar region and three drones over the Belgorod region, the ministry said.
Local officials said six drones crashed onto the territory of an oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, forcing it to halt work.
News outlet Astra published videos appearing to show an explosion at the refinery as it was hit by a drone. The videos could not be independently verified.
A source who wished to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to comment officially on the situation told RFE/RL that in addition to the oil refinery a Russian airfield also was hit, adding that Russians complained on social media about a series of explosions and fires.
"At this airport there were dozens of different planes that attack Ukrainian positions at the front -- Su-34, Su-25, Su-27, MiG-29. The management of the Slavyansk Refinery said that after several noisy flights, the plant stopped its work, and they are now assessing the damage," the source said.
The source did not provide any other details about the possible destruction caused by the impact.