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Russia and Ukraine exchanged apparent drone and missile attacks, with the deadliest of the latest Russian strikes hitting a high-rise residential building in Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa, killing at least eight people, regional officials said.
Russian drone strikes on March 2 were also reported in the Ukrainian cities of Mykolayiv and Kharkiv, killing three people and injuring several others, while a suspected drone attack caused an explosion in St. Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, with damage to a residential building and at least six injuries reported.
St. Petersburg Governor Aleksandr Beglov reported that an “incident” had occurred without giving a cause, saying some 100 residents were evacuated. St. Petersburg news outlet Fontanka reported that the blast was caused by a Ukrainian drone. Ukraine hasn’t commented.
The Russian Defense Ministry also said its forces shot down a Ukrainian drone over the Leningrad region near the Gulf of Finland and another in the Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine. No casualties were reported.
The Russian shelling in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region killed a 76-year-old man in the early morning hours, regional Governor Oleh Synyehubov said.
In the Odesa attack, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said an apartment building had been hit, with an infant and 2-year-old boy among the dead. At least 10 people remain unaccounted for, officials said.
A resident of Odesa told RFE/RL that her sister and 3-month-old nephew were under the rubble of the nine-story building, but later the woman and the baby were found dead.
The violence occurred as Ukrainian officials continued to press their Western allies for more weapons — particularly ammunition and air defense systems — to fight against the latest moves by Russian forces to press their advantage on the battlefield.
“Russia continues to hit civilians,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on social media.
“We need more air defenses from our partners. We need to strengthen the Ukrainian air shield to add protection for our people from Russian terror. More air defense systems, more missiles for air defense systems will save lives,” he said.
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Later, in his nightly video address, Zelenskiy said that “the world knows that terror can be opposed. Delaying the supply of weapons to Ukraine, missile defense systems to protect our people, leads, unfortunately, to such losses.”
In the United States, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has put up opposition to additional military aid for Kyiv, leaving a gap of two months since the last U.S. military supplies reached Ukraine.
“If Ukraine gets the aid, they will win,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat-New York) said.
“If they don’t get the aid, they will lose — with dire consequences to the United States,” added Schumer, who visited Ukraine last week.
Meanwhile, the top diplomats of two other important allies – France and Germany – will meet on March 4 to discuss aid to Ukraine.
Paris has been an active supporter of Kyiv, providing SCALP missiles, and with French President Emmanuel Macron even saying he wouldn’t rule out the deployment of Western ground troops in Ukraine.
Germany, along with several other Western leaders, distanced themselves from that suggestion, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisting there would be no deployment of German ground troops.
In one reported success for Ukraine, General Mykola Oleshchuk, the Air Force commander, said on March 2 that his forces had shot down a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber with antiaircraft missiles.
Oleshchuk wrote in a Telegram post that “Air Command East confirms the downing of a fighter-bomber. Su-34. Unfortunately, only one.”
Earlier, Oleshchuk reported the launch of missiles targeting two Russian jets – an Su-34 and Su-35. The claims could not be independently confirmed.
Kyiv has regularly reported the shooting down of Russian warplanes over Ukraine, seen by many as a major embarrassment for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces.
With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and AFP
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