KYIV : Eight people lost their lives in two consecutive Russian drone attacks on a medical centre in the northeast Ukrainian city of Sumy, Al Jazeera reported on Saturday, citing the Ukrainian officials.
According to Ukraine’s Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko, there was a second attack while patients and personnel were being evacuated after the first one on Saturday morning claimed one life.
Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on his Telegram channel that eleven people had been hurt when Russia used Shahed drones to attack the hospital.
Sumy is located just across the border from the Kursk area of Russia, where Kyiv launched a surprise attack on August 6 with the stated goal of establishing a “buffer zone” within Russia, reported Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, the prosecutors said that the second attack took place about 8:25am (05:25 GMT) as rescuers and police were providing assistance and evacuating patients at that time at the scene.
According to regional prosecutors, the hospital housing 86 patients and 38 staff members was the target of the first attack in Sumy on Saturday, which occurred at roughly 7:35 a.m. (04:35 GMT).
The Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have shot down two of the four missiles and 69 of the 73 Russian drones that were launched overnight. About fifteen drones were shot down above the Ukrainian capital and its surroundings, according to Kyiv city authorities, according to Al Jazeera.
The Russian Ministry of Defence announced on Saturday that during the course of the night, air defences shot down four Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod and one over the Kursk regions, both of which border Ukraine.
Zelenskyy on Thursday visited the US to lobby support for Ukraine, meeting with US President Joe Biden and Democratic Party presidential candidate Kamala Harris to detail what he has described in recent weeks as his “victory plan.” (ANI)