The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine escalated sharply on Friday, as deadly drone and shelling attacks left three people dead in Russia, while Russian bombardments struck critical infrastructure in Ukraine, including a maternity centre in Kharkiv.
Russian officials confirmed that overnight Ukrainian drone attacks targeted several regions, with air defence systems intercepting 155 drones. Despite these efforts, casualties were reported in multiple areas. One person was killed in Russia’s Lipetsk region, and another died in the western Tula region. Later, Ukrainian shelling claimed the life of a civilian in Belgorod, a Russian region bordering Ukraine.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv, a Russian strike forced the evacuation of a maternity hospital. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that women recovering from surgeries, mothers, and newborns were among the nine wounded in the attack. “A medical facility, a maternity hospital, has been hit,” Zelensky said in a statement, calling the attack yet another example of Russia’s disregard for civilian lives.
The United Nations recently reported that Russia’s intensifying assault has caused civilian casualties in Ukraine to reach a three-year high in June 2024. The escalation in attacks comes amid Ukraine’s counter-strikes deep into Russian territory, with Kyiv targeting military infrastructure including an aircraft factory near Moscow and a missile manufacturing plant.
Additionally, a source within Ukraine’s military intelligence claimed responsibility for a gas pipeline explosion in Russia that disrupted supply lines to military facilities. Russian media reported that loud blasts were heard in Langepas, a town in the Tyumen region, during the night of July 10.
On the front lines, Moscow said its troops captured another village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region — one of four regions Russia claimed to annex in 2022. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated Moscow’s firm stance against any foreign troops near Russian borders, dismissing Western calls for a ceasefire.
As both sides ramp up aerial and ground offensives, the human toll continues to rise, with civilians increasingly bearing the brunt of the war’s destruction. The conflict, now in its third year, shows no signs of abating.