KYIV, April 1 (Reuters) – Russia launched a rare daytime drone attack on Ukraine on Wednesday, killing four people in the central Cherkasy region and damaging energy infrastructure and industrial facilities in the west of the country, Ukrainian officials said.
Russia launched more than 360 drones between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. (0500 GMT until 1500 GMT), the Ukrainian air force said, adding that 345 drones were shot down. Russia also fired more than 339 drones in overnight attacks.
With a total number of drones at about 700 during the 24 hours, this is the second such heavy attack in the last eight days, official data showed. In an attack on March 24, Russia launched more than 900 drones in 24 hours.
“Throughout the day, the vast majority of drones flew in from the south-east, heading west,” the air force said on the Telegram app.
“Unfortunately, as a result of the Russian terrorist attack, 14 strikes hit the targets, and there are casualties.”
Ihor Taburets, the governor of the Cherkasy region, said the four were killed while they were outside during an air alert.
Six people were also wounded in the Poltava region, and two more were wounded in the Khmelnytskyi region, officials said.
Officials in the western regions of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, and Zakarpattia reported drone attacks. The Ukrainian air force said waves of drones were heading to various regions of Ukraine.
Zakarpattia governor Myroslav Biletskyi said Russian drones hit critical infrastructure facilities in the Khust and Uzhhorod districts near the border with Slovakia and Hungary.
Electricity supplies were cut off to about 11,000 customers in the Ivano-Frankivsk region in the west, regional officials said.
With the war in its fifth year, both Russia and Ukraine have stepped up their drone attacks. Such attacks usually take place overnight, when drones are harder to intercept.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa, Olena Harmash, Editing by Alex Richardson)
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