8 killed as deadly drone strikes hit Kyiv following Russian warplane crash
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Kyiv: Moscow on Monday stepped up attacks across Ukraine, cutting electricity and killing eight people, including in kamikaze drone strikes in the capital, as a Russian warplane crashed near the border.
The plane struck a residential area of Yeysk, a town in southwest Russia, according to Russian authorities.
The final toll was 13 dead and 19 injured, the ministry of emergency situations, quoted by Russian news agencies, said as the search for survivors ended early Tuesday after the crash caused a massive fire in a residential area.
Moscow is thought to be trying to counter battlefield losses in its eight-month war in Ukraine by waging a punitive policy of striking energy facilities before winter in a move President Vladimir Putin hopes will weaken resistance.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said Russia launched five strikes in Kyiv and against energy facilities in Sumy and the central Dnipropetrovsk regions, knocking out electricity to hundreds of towns and villages.
Ukraine said four people were killed in Kyiv, including a married couple expecting a baby, and another four in the northeast region of Sumy.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba demanded EU sanctions on Iran, accusing Tehran of providing Russia with drones.
An AFP journalist saw drones swooping low over central Kyiv on Monday as police tried to shoot them down with automatic weapons and smoke rose from explosions across the city.
"I saw a bright orange splash... The house trembled," said resident Tamara Beroshvili.
Ukraine's military said it shot down eight Iranian-made drones and two Russian cruise missiles on Monday.
Iran denies exporting any weapons to either side, but the United States warned it would take action against companies and nations working with Tehran's drone program following the strikes in Kyiv.
The strikes come exactly a week after Russian missiles rained down on Kyiv and other cities on October 10 in the biggest wave of attacks in months, killing at least 19 people, wounding 105 others, and sparking an international outcry.