KYIV: Ukraine said on Tuesday that a Russian overnight drone strike had killed a family of four in the northeastern Sumy region.
Oleg Grygorov, the head of the regional military administration, said Russian forces had hit a residential building in the village of Chernechchyna, in the Krasnopillia community.
“A couple with two young children lived in this house. Unfortunately, no one managed to escape,” Grygorov wrote on the Telegram platform.
“Rescuers (recovered) the bodies of four deceased people from under the rubble – parents and their sons, six and four years old,” he said.
“This is a terrible and irreparable loss for the entire community and the region.”
Russia’s defense ministry said it had “intercepted and destroyed” 81 Ukrainian drones overnight.
The governor of Volgograd, Andrey Bocharov, said the Russian military had repelled a “massive” Ukrainian drone attack over the southern region.
“According to preliminary information, there was no damage to structures or injuries,” Bocharov said.
On Sunday, a massive Russian drone and missile attack against Ukraine lasting 12 hours killed at least four people in the capital Kyiv, including a 12-year-old girl, and left dozens injured across the country.
Ukraine said it had been targeted by 595 drones and 48 missiles that night, most of which were shot down by air defenses.
The fighting in Ukraine is essentially taking place in the east and Russia controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called up 135,000 men for routine military service, the country’s biggest autumn conscription drive since 2016.
Conscripts are expected to serve for a year at a military base inside Russia, not to fight in Ukraine, although there have been reports of conscripted men being sent to the front line.
Since launching his full-scale military assault on Ukraine in February 2022, Putin has put Russia on a war footing, boosting military spending to levels unseen since the Soviet era and expanding the size of the army.
Ukraine says Russia drone strike kills family of four in Sumy
https://arab.news/be5qp
Ukraine says Russia drone strike kills family of four in Sumy
- Russian forces hit a residential building in the village of Chernechchyna, in the Krasnopillia community
- Russia’s defense ministry meanwhile said it had “intercepted and destroyed” 81 Ukrainian drones overnight
Australia police detain 7 men suspected to have ideological links to Bondi Beach gunmen
- Government to launch gun buyback scheme in bid to prevent further violence
- Prime minister announces ‘day of reflection’ one week after attack
SYDNEY: Australian police said that seven men detained in Sydney’s southwest on Thursday had ideological connections to the two gunmen who allegedly fired at hundreds celebrating Hanukkah in Bondi Beach, killing 15 people.
“We don’t have definitive links between the individuals who committed these atrocities on Sunday and this yesterday apart from potential commonality in some thinking, but no associations at this stage,” New South Wales state Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson told ABC Radio on Friday.
Investigations were at an initial stage, Hudson said, adding one of the locations the group was planning to visit was Bondi.
Amid an outcry over the latest gun violence, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday that the government will launch a national gun buyback scheme to “purchase surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms.”
“We expect hundreds of thousands of firearms will be collected and destroyed through this scheme,” Albanese told a news conference.
Albanese also announced a nationwide gun buyback scheme to “purchase surplus, newly banned and illegal firearms.”
He said it would be the largest gun buyback effort since 1996, when Australia cracked down on firearms in the wake of a shooting that killed 35 people at Port Arthur.
“Australia’s gun laws were substantially reformed after the Port Arthur tragedy,” Albanese said.
“The terrible events at Bondi show we need to get more guns off our streets.”
Sajid Akram and his son Naveed are accused of killing 15 people in an antisemitic attack at Bondi Beach on Sunday evening, Australia’s deadliest mass shooting since Port Arthur.
Albanese also said Australia will hold a national “day of reflection” one week after the mass shooting.
“This day is about standing with the Jewish community, wrapping our arms around them, and all Australians sharing their grief,” Albanese said as he declared Australia would honor the attack’s 15 victims. He urged Australians to light candles at 6:47 p.m. on Sunday, December 21 — “exactly one week since the attack unfolded.”
It is a moment to pause, reflect, and affirm that hatred and violence will never define who we are as Australians.”
Australia was also planning a separate “national day of mourning” to be held at some point in the new year, Albanese said.
“This will allow families the time and space to lay their loved ones to rest and to support those still recovering.”
