Russian Missile Strikes 11/30 06:37

Russian Missile Strikes       11/30 06:37

   

   KYIV, Ukraine (AP) -- Russian missiles tore through apartment buildings in 
eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, local officials said Thursday, killing at 
least one person and burying families under rubble as the Kremlin's forces 
continued to pound the fiercely contested area with long-range weapons.

   Russian military units simultaneously launched six S-300 missiles toward the 
Donetsk region during the night, according to Ukrainian Internal Affairs 
Minister Ihor Klymenko. Another two were fired separately in the same area, the 
Ukrainian air force said.

   The simultaneous missile strikes hit three Donetsk cities -- Pokrovsk, 
Novohrodivka and Myrnohrad, Klymenko said. The cities lie 25-40 kilometers 
(15-25 miles) from the front line.

   The battlefield has seen few major changes in recent months. A Ukrainian 
counteroffensive that started in June dented deep Russian defenses in some 
areas but has failed to change the complexion of the 22-month war.

   Moscow has held firm in most of the areas it occupies while using the 
long-range weapons to inflict damage on Ukraine, including civilian areas.

   Emergency workers pulled the body of a 62-year-old man from the wreckage of 
a destroyed multi-story building in Novohrodivka. Four more people may be under 
the rubble, including a child, authorities said.

   In Pokrovsk, the strikes destroyed a multi-story building, nine houses, a 
police office and cars. Emergency crews helped rescue a man with a 6-month-old 
baby, covered in blood, in his hands, officials said.

   The head of the city administration, Serhii Dobriak, said it was fourth time 
Pokrovsk came under attack in the past month.

   "They are striking the city center, the houses," he said. "They are just 
destroying the civilian population."

   He urged people to evacuate because "the intensity of strikes is increasing."

   All three of the targeted cities are close to Avdiivka, a city where a 
fierce battle has taken place in recent months.

   Avdiivka is a gateway to parts of the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian 
control.

   Ukrainian officials said recently that Russian forces have ramped up attacks 
in eastern Ukraine in an attempt to gain ground near Avdiivka and around 
Bakhmut, another key front-line city.

   In southern Ukraine, Russian forces shelled residential areas in the Kherson 
region, damaging critical infrastructure and a school, the office of Ukrainian 
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. One person was killed, the office said.

   Ambulance paramedics came under fire in the village of Kindiika, where a 
doctor was wounded on Wednesday evening, according to the president's office. 
In Darivka, another Kherson region village, four people were injured as 10 
houses, a hospital and a kindergarten were damaged during the night, the office 
said.

   Zelenskyy on Thursday visited troops in Kupiansk, an area of fighting in the 
northeastern Kharkiv region.

   "I know that every day you are losing your close people, your war buddies," 
he told soldiers, according to a video posted on his Telegram channel. "You 
should know that everyone is aware that this is the highest price. That's why I 
ask you to take care of yourselves."

   It was the Ukrainian leader's second straight day of touring battle areas 
across the country. On Wednesday he visited cities in southern Ukraine.

   He has frequently made such visits during the war as he tries to keep up 
morale.