BY OSABUOHIEN VIVIAN ROSE
At Least 20 Dead As Russia Strikes Ukraine Amid U.S Decision To Halt Satellite Images With Ukraine, officials said on Saturday, as heavy aerial attacks continued into the second night following a U.S. decision to stop sharing satellite images with Ukraine.
The decision to withhold intelligence and military aid came on the heels of a chaotic White House visit last week by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Without U.S. satellite imagery, Ukraine’s ability to strike inside Russia and defend itself from bombardment is reduced.
At least 11 people were killed and 40 more injured in multiple strikes on a town in Ukraine’s embattled Donetsk region late Friday, regional Gov. Vadym Filashkin said. The attack damaged eight apartment blocks in the town of Dobropillya, which is close to the front where Russian troops have been making steady advances. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said a Russian drone damaged a Ukrainian fire truck while rescuers fought to extinguish the burning buildings.
Another six people were killed in the front-line towns of Pokrovsk, Kostyantynivka, Myrnograd and Ivanopillya, Filashkin said, while emergency services reported that three others died when a Russian drone hit a civilian workshop in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Filashkin declared Saturday a day of mourning in the region and warned that more victims could still be found in the rubble.
Zelenskyy said that the destruction in Dobropillya had been caused by a ballistic missile strike. “Last night, the Russian army fired two ballistic missiles at the center of Dobropillya,” he said. “After emergency services arrived at the scene, they launched another strike, deliberately targeting rescuers. It is a vile and inhumane intimidation tactic to which the Russians often resort.”
The wave of attacks took place just 24 hours after Russia hit Ukrainian energy facilities with dozens of missiles and drones, hobbling its ability to deliver heat and light to its citizens and to power weapons factories vital to its defenses.
On Friday, when asked by a reporter during an Oval Office exchange if Russian President Vladimir Putin was taking advantage of the U.S. pause on intelligence-sharing to attack Ukraine, President Donald Trump responded: “I think he’s doing what anybody else would.”
Zelenskyy did not reference the intelligence-sharing deal, but did seem to appeal to other statements Trump made Friday related to financial sanctions against Moscow. Writing on social media, the U.S. president proposed imposing large-scale banking sanctions and tariffs on Russia until a cease-fire and final peace settlement was reached.
Zelenskyy welcomed the prospect of additional sanctions on Moscow, saying, “Everything that helps Putin finance the war must be broken.”
On Saturday Russian troops launched three Iskander missiles and 145 drones over the country overnight. The bombardment contained a mix of attack and decoy drones intended to confuse air defenses. One missile and 79 drones were shot down, while 54 more drones were lost without causing damage, the Ukrainian air force said, Ukraine’s air force said.
Russian troops shot down 31 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 26 over the country’s Krasnodar region, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday. Falling debris from one drone sparked a blaze at the KINEF oil refinery in Russia’s northern Leningrad region, local Gov. Aleksandr Drozdenko said in a statement. No we’re no deaths recorded.
