As per the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, an apartment building in St. Petersburg was struck by a drone on Saturday morning.
The local state news agency said that Ukrainian forces had damaged the apartment building.
Following the purported attack, two buildings in the Krasnogvardeisky area of St. Petersburg sustained damage.
Photos from the dilapidated-looking apartment complex showed large craters on the building's exterior.
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| A view of a damaged apartment block after an alleged drone attack reported by local media at Krasnogvardeysky district in St. Petersburg, Russia on March 02, 2024. (Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images) |
Six apartment residents were reportedly hurt by the explosion and taken to the hospital, according to the local media.
St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said that residents were forced to evacuate.
Local residents told Reuters that they heard a "pop" and a "blaze."
Elena, a local, told Reuters, "I had just opened the window when I heard a whistle, then a pop, a blaze and a full apartment of smoke, the window flew out."
She said this happened after 7:00 a.m. local time.
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| A view of a damaged apartment block after an alleged drone attack reported by local media at Krasnogvardeysky district in St. Petersburg, Russia on March 02, 2024. (Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images) |
The state newspaper's report came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that a Russian drone attack in Odesa, Russia, claimed the lives of eight civilians.
Zelenskyy identified the youngest victims of the attack as four-month-old Tymofiy and Mark, aged two.
Oleh Kiper, the governor of Odesa region, stated that although Ukrainian air defenses shot down the Russian drone, falling debris on Saturday struck the residential complex.
Russia pushes into more Ukrainian towns, Ukraine shoots down more war planes
Ukraine says they shot down 3 Russian warplanes overnight
According to Kyiv officials on Thursday, as Moscow seeks to maintain its present military and weaponry advantage, Russian forces are putting significant pressure on more Ukrainian cities and villages in eastern and southeast Ukraine.
Despite Russia’s apparent offensive momentum on the ground, Ukraine said it has shot down 13 Russian warplanes this month, including three on Thursday, as the Kremlin’s forces pushed forward.
Now that the full-scale conflict is in its third year, Russian forces have been using enormous amounts of artillery and manpower to pound some Ukrainian defense positions into submission. Their goal is to breach defensive lines at specific locations.
Even if Russia's achievements have been modest, sluggish, and expensive, Ukraine is suffering from a serious artillery shell shortage as a result of a decline in the amount of military supplies from its Western allies.
The Russian army is trying to seize the towns and villages of Tonenke, Orlivka, Semenivka, Berdychi and Krasnohorivka in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine’s army chief, Col. Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on social media.
WHAT THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE STRUGGLE KEEPS ON SIGNIFICANCE FOR REGULAR CITIZENS
Those are places where Ukrainian military officials had said they would form a new line of defense after Ukrainian troops pulled out of Avdiivka on Feb. 17.
Russian forces are concentrating on regaining Verbove and Robotyne, which Ukraine reclaimed in the summer counteroffensive in 2023, in the southeast Zaporizhzhia area, according to Syrskyi.
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| A woman cries at a senior Ukrainian lieutenant's funeral in Kyiv on Feb. 28, 2023. He was killed in a fight with Russian forces. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka) |
Overnight, three Russian Su-34 jets were shot down by Ukrainian forces, according to the ministry of defense of Ukraine.
That made a total of 11 warplanes, including an early warning and control A-50 plane, that Ukraine claims to have downed since Feb. 17, and 13 in February — the highest monthly tally, it said, since October 2022.
"The enemy has increased its air presence in the east. Our top military leadership reacted accordingly," air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said on national television.
A major question for Kyiv officials is how they can unlock further military help from their partners. Emergency U.S. national security funds for Ukraine are still on hold amid a political dispute in Washington.
In an open letter to Speaker Mike Johnson of the US House, Ruslan Stefanchuk, the speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, requested that the Biden administration's plan to transfer $60 billion in aid to Ukraine be put to a vote.
Twenty-three European speakers and heads of parliament also signed the letter Stefanchuk released on X, the former Twitter, on Wednesday.
Eight Ukrainian civilians, including a 6-year-old girl, were killed, and at least 12 people were wounded in the southeast over the previous 24 hours, the Ukrainian president’s office said Thursday
Alexei Navalny funeral: Family of Putin arch-nemesis gather to say goodbye in Moscow
Alexei Navalny died on Feb. 16 under mysterious circumstances. He was 47
Newsreedom' Jacqui Heinrich reports the latest from the White House. The 'Outnumbered' panel also discussed their reaction to Biden enacting the 'crushing' sanctions on Russia.
Weeks after his unexplained death, Alexei Navalny, the arch-enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had his burial in Moscow on Friday.
Hundreds of mourners lined up around the Soothe My Sorrows church in Moscow where Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's body would be laid to rest. They broke out into chants of "Navalny! Navalny!" as the coffin was being carried inside.
Days have passed before Navalny's body was finally given to the family for burial.
The late activist's mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, begged for days before the Russian government finally handed over her remains, as revealed by spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh.
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| Protesters hold a picture of Alexei Navalny as they stage a demonstration opposite the Russian Embassy in London, Friday, Feb. 16, 2024, in reaction to the news that jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died in a Russian prison, according to the Federal Penitentiary Service. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) |
"Alexey's body was handed over to his mother," Yarmysh confirmed Saturday. "Many thanks to all those who demanded this with us. Lyudmila Ivanovna is still in Salekhard."
The opposition leader was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Russia’s brutal IK-3 penal colony, also known as "Polar Wolf," in Kharp.
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| Alexei Navalny's body in an open casket at Soothe My Sorrows church in Moscow. Photo Credit: East2West (East2West) |
Prison officials say Navalny died on Feb. 16 of "sudden death syndrome" after collapsing following a walk. He was 47.
The prison, one of Russia's toughest, is located approximately 145 miles east of Moscow.
His death sparked accusations around the world that he had been killed.
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| Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appeared in court via video link on Thursday, Feb. 15, a day before his reported death at a penal colony in northern Russia. (Russian Federal Penitentiary Service/SOTAvision/AP) |
The day of Navalny's death, President Biden told reporters at the White House that "we don't know exactly what happened, but there is no doubt that the death of Navalny was a consequence of something that Putin and his thugs did."
Speaking to reporters, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that Navalny's "death in a Russian prison and the fixation and fear of one man only underscores the weakness and rot at the heart of the system that Putin has built."
When asked four years ago what he would say to his Russian fans in the event that he was assassinated for opposing Putin, Navalny himself replied.
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| Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny with his wife Yulia in Moscow, Russia, in September 2013. (AP/Evgeny Feldman) |
"You’re not allowed to give up," he told the documentary maker. "If they decide to kill me, it means we are incredibly strong and we need to use this power."
Yulia Navalnaya has vowed to continue his work
Putin issues chilling warning against sending Western troops to defend Ukraine
Putin's comments came in response to speculation from French President Emmanuel Macron that NATO allies could put boots on the ground in Ukraine
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| Members of the Federal Assembly of Russia listen to Putin's speech in Moscow. (Kremlin Press Office/Anadolu via Getty Images) |
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Thursday that Western military intervention against their invasion of Ukraine could result in nuclear escalation.
In his address to lawmakers and government officials on the state of the nation, Putin accused the West of "selecting targets for striking our territory and selecting the most efficient [targets] – as they think [about] striking assets and talking about the possibility of sending a NATO contingent to Ukraine."
"We remember the fate of those who sent their troop contingents to the territory of our country," Putin said, referencing Russia's long history of repelling invading forces. "Now the consequences for the potential invaders will be far more tragic."
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers an annual address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, at Moscow's Gostiny Dvor. (Kremlin Press Office/Anadolu via Getty Images)
"We also have the weapons that can strike targets on their territory, and what they are now suggesting and scaring the world with, all that raises the real threat of a nuclear conflict that will mean the destruction of our civilization," the Russian dictator continued.
Putin's defensive posture follows comments made by French President Emmanuel Macron, who appeared to suggest that NATO partners might be willing to send in troops to defend Ukraine.
Macron suggested on Monday that Ukraine’s allies would "do everything needed, so Russia cannot win the war," stressing that "nothing can be ruled out" and that European leaders had reached no consensus to "send in an official, endorsed manner troops on the ground."
The Associated Press was informed by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg that "no plans exist for NATO combat troops on the ground in Ukraine," and that international law grants Ukraine "the right to self-defense, and we have the right to support them in upholding that right."
"Don't they understand it?" Putin asked during his state-of-the-nation address. "Those people haven't been through any tough challenges, and they have forgotten what war means."
Later, French Minister of Foreign Affairs Stephane Sejourne provided clarification on Macron's remarks regarding military intervention, stating that while the troops would not be deploying for combat, support for Ukraine "must respond to very specific needs," citing concerns about cyberdefense, weapon production, and ordnance clearance.
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| French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool via AP) |
"Some of [support] actions could require a presence on Ukrainian territory, without crossing the threshold of fighting," Sejourne said in a statement to reporters. "Nothing should be ruled out. This was and still is the position today of the President of the Republic."
Thus far, the NATO alliance has sent Ukraine non-lethal aid including winter gear and medical supplies, while individual countries have agreed to arm and train Ukrainian troops.
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