Russians targeted Ukrainian cities of Kherson and Kharkiv, five killed, more than 20 wounded

(Patria) - In Russian attacks on the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Kherson overnight, five people were killed and more than 20 were wounded, after Moscow promised a "response" a few days ago to the destruction of part of its air force.

Three dead and at least 17 wounded were recorded in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, which suffered the "strongest attack since the start of the war" in February 2022, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov.

He stated that "at least 40 explosions" rang out in a short period of time in this northeastern city of about 1.4 million inhabitants, located less than 50 kilometers from the Russian border.

"The enemy is simultaneously striking with missiles, Shahed drones, and guided aerial bombs," Terekhov said, according to whom at least 48 Shahed drones, two missiles, and four guided bombs were used.

Two people were killed in the Kyiv district of Kharkiv, and one in the Osnovianskyi district, while about twenty were injured, Terekhov said.

A couple in their fifties was killed in an attack that hit two buildings in Kherson, according to the governor of that southern region, Oleksandr Prokudin. Two people were wounded, as well as in the Dnipropetrovsk region in the east of the country.

Russia carried out one of its most massive attacks since the start of the war on Thursday night into Friday, with 407 drones and 45 missiles, according to the Ukrainian military. The death toll from this attack rose to at least five on Saturday after the body of a young woman was found in the rubble in Lutsk, near the Polish border.

The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said it destroyed 36 Ukrainian drones overnight, particularly in the Moscow, Kursk, and Smolensk regions. This attack led to the temporary closure of Moscow's main Sheremetyevo airport, according to aviation authorities.

Moscow on Friday promised a "response" to earlier Ukrainian attacks on several Russian air bases far from the front lines, in which several bombers were destroyed.

The attacks were carried out amid a stalemate in peace talks after the second round of direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Istanbul on Monday, which did not lead to a ceasefire, but only to an agreement on a prisoner exchange.

The two warring sides will exchange 500 prisoners of war each this weekend, following a previous exchange of 1,000 people per side in May. They also agreed to hand over the bodies of thousands of soldiers.

In a sign of Moscow's intransigence, as the demands of both sides appear irreconcilable, the Kremlin has presented the invasion of Ukraine, which it launched in February 2022, as an "existential issue."

"For us, this is an existential issue, one of our national interests, our security, our future, and the future of our children," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Russian forces, which occupy roughly a fifth of Ukrainian territory, have bombarded Ukrainian cities almost daily since 2022. In response, Ukraine carries out almost daily air attacks on Russia.