Daijiworld Media Network - Kyiv

Kyiv, Jan 21: Overnight Russian missile and drone strikes on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rig killed two elderly civilians and injured a woman, Ukrainian authorities said on Wednesday, while Russian officials reported that a Ukrainian drone attack wounded at least 11 people in the country’s southwest.

Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the regional military administration, said a 77-year-old man and a 72-year-old woman were killed in the attack on Kryvyi Rig, while a 53-year-old woman sustained injuries. Several residential and other buildings were also damaged in the missile and drone assault.

Kryvyi Rig, located around 80 km from the frontline and the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has been repeatedly targeted since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Meanwhile, in Russia, the head of the Adygea Republic, Murat Kumpilov, said a Ukrainian drone strike overnight triggered a fire at a residential building and a parking area in the Takhtamukaysky district, near the city of Krasnodar. He said 11 people were injured, including two children, and nine were hospitalised.

Videos shared from the site showed damaged building facades, thick smoke and several vehicles gutted by fire, with emergency responders deployed in the area.

Ukrainian officials, however, disputed Moscow’s account, claiming the damage was caused by Russia’s own air defence systems. Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, said a Russian air defence missile struck a residential building in the town of Afipsky in the Adygea region.

Neither side provided independent evidence to support their claims. The region, located near the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, has seen repeated Ukrainian strikes, which Kyiv says are aimed at targeting Russia’s oil and gas infrastructure that funds the war.