KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – A Ukrainian drone attack left at least seven people dead and a Russian strike on Odesa killed two people on Thursday, officials said, just hours after Kyiv and Washington signed a long-anticipated agreement granting U.S. access to Ukraine´s mineral resources – a move that could enable continued military aid to Ukraine.
The attack in the partially occupied Kherson region of southern Ukraine, which struck a market in the town of Oleshky, killed seven and wounded more than 20 people, Moscow-appointed Gov. Vladimir Saldo said.
“At the time of the attack, there were many people in the market,” Saldo wrote on Telegram. After the first wave of strikes, he said, Ukraine sent further drones to “finish off” any survivors.
Meanwhile, a Russian drone strike on the Black Sea port city of Odesa early Thursday killed two people and injured 15 others, Ukrainian emergency services said.
Regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said the barrage struck apartment buildings, private homes, a supermarket and a school.
Videos shared by Kiper on Telegram showed a high-rise building with a severely damaged facade, a shattered storefront and firefighters battling flames.
A drone struck and ignited a fire at a petrol station in the center of Kharkiv, Ukraine´s second-largest city, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov.
The Ukrainian air force reported that Russia sent 170 exploding drones and decoys into five Ukrainian regions in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Thursday. It said 74 of them were intercepted and another 68 were lost. Russia also launched five ballistic missiles.
Following the attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia had ignored a U.S. proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire for more than 50 days.
“There were also our proposals – at the very least, to refrain from striking civilian infrastructure and to establish lasting silence in the sky, at sea, and on land,” he said. “Russia has responded to all this with new shelling and new assaults.”
Russia´s Defense Ministry said Thursday that air defenses shot down eight Ukrainian drones overnight.
The U.S. and Ukraine on Wednesday signed an agreement granting American access to Ukraine´s vast mineral resources, finalizing a deal months in the making that could enable continued military aid to Kyiv amid concerns that President Donald Trump might scale back support in ongoing peace negotiations with Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire next week in Ukraine to mark Victory Day in World War II as the U.S. presses for a deal to end the 3-year-old war.
The Kremlin said the truce to mark Russia’s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 – the country’s biggest secular holiday – will run from the start of May 8 and last through the end of May 10.
Ukraine, which has previously agreed to U.S. President Donald Trump´s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, dismissed Putin´s move. In response, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called for an immediate ceasefire lasting “at least 30 days.”
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