Russia launches drone strikes despite Ukraine ceasefire

A Ukrainian rescuer works to extinguish a fire in Zaporizhzhia. PIC/AFP

Russia fired dozens of drones at Ukraine in nighttime attacks, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday, disregarding a unilateral ceasefire announced by Kyiv that began at midnight.

Russia claimed that Ukraine hadn't abided by its own ceasefire, saying that air defences shot down 53 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula and the Black Sea between Tuesday evening and dawn Wednesday. Five people were killed in the city of Dzhankoi in Crimea.

There had been no official sign from Moscow that it would heed Kyiv's ceasefire. US-led diplomatic efforts to stop the war over the past year have come to nothing. On Tuesday, Russian strikes on Ukraine killed 27 people and wounded 120 others.

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