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A Russian drone strike in eastern Ukraine has killed twelve miners, according to the country’s largest private energy firm.
DTEK reported that the attack targeted a bus transporting workers after their shift in the Dnipropetrovsk region on Sunday. State Emergency Services indicate that at least 15 individuals sustained injuries.
Earlier reports cite at least two additional fatalities and nine injuries from separate Russian attacks overnight and on Sunday.
Among the victims were six individuals injured when a drone struck a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia. Two of those injured were women in labor at the time of the strike.
Zaporizhzhia regional head Ivan Fedorov, in a Telegram post, described the incident as further “proof of a war directed against life.”
BBC Verify has confirmed that the site of the attack was Maternity Hospital No.3, located on Bocharova Street in the eastern part of the city.
Footage circulated on social media platforms, bearing watermarks from national and local administrations, depicted damaged offices, patient rooms, and a children’s room with shattered windows and debris.
Some visuals revealed fire damage, while videos captured a fire still burning on the building’s first floor. Additional footage showed firefighters forcing open interior doors and evacuating patients.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha stated that the hospital attack demonstrates Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pursuit of a “war against civilians, contrary to peace efforts.”
Fedorov later reported that a separate strike in a residential area resulted in injuries to three people.
Following the strike on the DTEK bus in Ternivka, the company initially reported 15 miner fatalities, subsequently revising the death toll to at least 12.
Elsewhere, in the central city of Dnipro, a man and a woman were killed by a drone strike, according to Ganzha, who also reported that a 72-year-old man was injured in Nikopol.
In a separate incident, a 59-year-old woman sustained serious injuries from shelling in Kherson, while officials reported that three others were injured in a strike in Kharkiv.
Moscow initiated a series of targeted attacks on Ukraine’s power grid in January, leaving millions without essential heating and electricity amid a period of extreme cold, with anticipated temperatures falling below -20C in some regions this weekend.
Earlier in the week, former US President Donald Trump stated that Putin had agreed to suspend attacks during the cold period. However, the Kremlin subsequently clarified that the pause would conclude on Sunday.
On Sunday, Ukraine also announced its collaboration with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to prevent Moscow from utilizing the firm’s Starlink satellite system for drone operations.
While Kyiv’s military depends on the system for internet connectivity, it reported this week that Starlink terminals were discovered on long-range drones used by Russia.
Musk indicated that measures taken to address the “unauthorised” use appear to have been effective, while Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov expressed gratitude for Musk’s support, recognizing him as “a true friend of the Ukrainian people.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the second round of three-way talks aimed at resolving the conflict – nearly four years after Russia commenced its full-scale invasion of Ukraine – would commence on Wednesday, instead of the initially scheduled date of Sunday.
He did not provide a rationale for the postponement, but confirmed that the discussions, involving Russian, Ukrainian, and US officials, will take place in Abu Dhabi.
Negotiations on a proposed peace plan have been mediated by the US for several months, with a primary obstacle being Ukraine’s potential cession of territory to Russia.
Currently, Moscow controls approximately one-fifth of Ukraine, largely encompassing the eastern Donbas region. It seeks the transfer of the portions of the Donbas not yet under its control from Kyiv, while Ukraine reportedly demands the return of its largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia from Russian control.
Additional reporting by Richard Irvine-Brown, BBC Verify
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