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Russia stepped up its shelling of Kherson, striking the southern Ukrainian region 100 times in 24 hours, killing civilians and causing widespread damage, a regional official said on October 13, as the military said Moscow was continuing its attempts to overrun Avdiyivka, a town just south of the eastern city of Donetsk.
Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said Russian forces used artillery, mortars, Grad missiles, tanks, and drones to pound the region and its capital, Kherson city, which was shelled 49 times.
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“Two people were killed and six more were wounded, one of them a child,” Prokudin said, adding that education facilities, houses, apartment blocks, a medical institution, and an industrial platform in Kherson’s Beryslav district were destroyed in the strikes.
Meanwhile, Ukraine struck a Russian missile carrier and a patrol ship in separate attacks this week involving seaborne drones carrying experimental weapons, a Ukrainian intelligence source said on October 13.
The source did not give details of the damage but told Reuters the Buyan missile carrier was attacked on October 13 and the Pavel Derzhavin missile carrier was attacked on October 11 in joint operations carried out by the Ukrainian Security Service and naval forces. Reuters could not immediately verify the reports.
Kherson, which was partially liberated by Ukrainian troops one year ago, has been constantly targeted by Russian shelling from across the Dnieper River.
In their effort to make a breakthrough in the area, Russian troops stepped up their relentless assaults on Avdiyivka, where Ukrainian forces repelled 20 attacks in 24 hours, the General Staff said on October 13.
Ukrainian forces fought a total of 64 close-quarters battles as they continued their incremental advance in the Bakhmut area of Donetsk and in the southern direction of Melitopol, the military said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy commended the defenders of Avdiyivka in a message on Telegram.
“I am grateful to every soldier, every unit for their resilience,” Zelenskiy wrote.
The latest fighting came a day after a wave of Russian drone strikes on Danube port installations critical for Kyiv’s grain export caused damage and injuries and prompted Romania to urge Russia to stop its attacks after again finding debris on its territory near the border with Ukraine.
Since the collapse in July of a United Nations-brokered deal allowing the safe passage of Ukrainian grain shipments from Black Sea ports, Ukraine has used its Danube ports of Reni and Izmayil on the border with Romania to ship food to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta.
WATCH: During a high-speed attack helicopter mission, a Ukrainian Mi-8 pilot shares the secrets of his crew’s successes: low-level flights, fast turnaround, and a dedicated support team. RFE/RL’s Maryan Kushnir flew onboard, capturing footage of air attacks that targeted Russian troops in eastern Ukraine.
The Romanian Defense Ministry said a crater caused by the possible explosion of a drone was found early on October 12 near its Danube border with Ukraine.
Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu said the drone strikes on Izmayil had “serious consequences.”
“New evidence of impact was found on Romania’s soil. We call on Russia to stop these #war crimes,” she said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
With reporting by Reuters and AFP
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