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Russia Attacks Ukraine with 46 Drones

by VOA News

   Russia attacked Ukraine with 46 drones launched in several waves
   overnight, Ukraine's military said Wednesday.

   The Ukrainian air force said its defenses destroyed 32 of the drones,
   while most of the remainder were able to strike front-line areas,
   mainly in the Kherson region.

   Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko also reported Russian
   shelling Tuesday evening in Kherson that hit a train station as people
   awaited the departure of a train to evacuate them.

   Klymenko said the shelling killed a police officer and injured four
   people.

   The latest attacks followed a Ukrainian strike Tuesday that hit a
   Russian naval landing ship in Crimea.

   The Ukrainian air force said it used cruise missiles and that the
   attack destroyed the Novocherkassk.

   Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson for Ukraine's Air Forces Command, told VOA
   the Ukrainian military had information about the ship's location and
   cargo, as well as Russian air defenses protecting the region.

   Ihnat called the attack "an extremely difficult operation because it is
   not easy to sink such a ship."

   Ukraine's military is getting better at delivering high-precision
   strikes, Ihnat said, adding that Russia "is losing, little by little,
   the Black Sea fleet and its influence in the Black Sea."

   Ihnat said he could not confirm whether the Novocherkassk was carrying
   Iranian-made drones but said that could not be ruled out. Additionally,
   he could not confirm whether the ship had ammunition Russia had
   received from its allies for use in Ukraine.

   The Russian defense ministry said the Ukrainian attack damaged the
   Novocherkassk at a base in Feodosia.

   Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of Crimea, said on
   Telegram the attack killed one person and injured two others.

   Ukrainian Vice Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, commander of the Ukrainian
   Navy, told VOA the Tuesday attack will have an effect on the presence
   of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea.

   "Now the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, which is located in Feodosia,
   understand that they are also the objects of attack by the armed forces
   of Ukraine, including at this base point," he said.

   Myroslava Gongadze and Ihar Tsikhanenka contributed to this report.
   Some material came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and
   Reuters.