A Russian missile attack Friday on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown killed one policeman and wounded at least 73 people, including nine police officers, government officials said. Another attack in the southern Kherson region killed three people, the AP reports. The strikes were among multiple Russian attacks across the country overnight, officials said. Meanwhile, Moscow is trying to strengthen its position politically with local elections in the four regions it has illegally annexed, even though it doesn't fully control any of the four. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it does not recognize the "fake elections."
The strikes came days after 16 people were killed in a Russian attack on a market in eastern Ukraine and drone debris was found in Romania. That sparked fears among local residents that the war could spread into the NATO-member country bordering Ukraine. Ten buildings were damaged in the attack on Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine on Friday. Photos posted on Telegram showed a building on fire, burned timbers, and emergency services evacuating the wounded. Three people were also killed on Friday after a Russian bomb struck the village of Odradokamianka in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, said Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine's interior minister.
Meanwhile, Russia is holding local elections in the part of the Kherson region it controls. Local elections are also being held in the Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions. In Kherson, local residents and Ukrainian activists say election poll workers have made house calls accompanied by armed soldiers. Ukraine has dismissed the elections, calling on allies to condemn Russia's actions and urging them not to recognize any administration created as a result of the votes.
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