Ukrainian officials said Wednesday at least four people were killed in Russian missile and aerial drone attacks.
Serhiy Lysak, the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said on Telegram that Russian forces killed three people and injured 18 others. He also reported damage and several fires from the attack.
In the northeastern region of Kharkiv, officials said a Russian attack killed one person and injured four others. The attack there also damaged 10 homes and some businesses.
Ukraine’s air force said the Russian attack involved three Iskander-K cruise missiles, four guided missiles and five aerial drones.
The military said its air defenses shot down five of the missiles and all of the drones.
Russia’s defense ministry said Wednesday it destroyed five Ukrainian aerial drones over the Belgorod region, four drones over Bryansk and another drone over the Moscow region.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor of Belgorod, reported at least two people were injured in separate villages because of the Ukrainian attack.
Officials in Bryansk said there were no injuries or damage from the downed drones.
The latest violence came a day after Ukraine got its latest pledge of support from the United States.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umierov during a meeting in Washington that the United States will soon announce more than $2.3 billion in new security assistance for Ukraine.
Austin said the weapons package would include such arms as anti-tank weapons and air defense interceptors and will allow accelerated procurement of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems and Patriot air defense interceptors.
The Austin-Umerov talks came a week before the United States hosts a NATO summit where military support for Ukraine to help it defend against Russia’s invasion is set to top the agenda.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has leaned toward Moscow during Russia’s two-year invasion of Ukraine, visited Kyiv on Tuesday, and declared the war “the most important issue for Europe.”
Orban met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but in a sign of their still tense relations, the Kyiv leader did not publicly acknowledge the visit until hours after Orban’s arrival. Zelenskyy said on the X social media platform that they had discussed trade, cross-border cooperation, infrastructure and energy.
The Ukrainian president's office did, however, release a video showing Zelenskyy thanking Orban for his visit and welcoming him to the country after shaking hands and then sitting across from each other at a round table with Hungarian, Ukrainian and European Union flags in the background.
The two countries have had a tense relationship since the war started, with Orban portraying himself as a champion for peace and calling for an immediate cease-fire and peace talks without expanding on what that would mean for Ukraine's territorial integrity. Orban has frequently been at odds with other EU countries and their continuing military and financial support for Ukraine.
Some information for this story was provided by Reuters, Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press.
