ISTANBUL

Ukraine on Friday accused Russia of targeting civilians in a series of overnight strikes, including a drone attack on a maternity hospital in Kharkiv, while Moscow said it downed 155 Ukrainian drones across multiple regions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that nine people were injured in Kharkiv, and that strikes also hit the Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Sumy, and Odesa regions.

Calling for immediate implementation of international air defense pledges, Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine urgently needs interceptor drones and missile defenses, especially after discussions with partners during this week’s Ukraine Recovery Conference in Italy.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense systems destroyed 155 Ukrainian drones launched overnight.

The ministry listed multiple areas affected, including 53 drones over the Kursk region, 19 over Bryansk, and others in Smolensk, Tula, Belgorod, Oryol, the Moscow region, Crimea, and the Black Sea.

Local governors said two people were killed and two others injured in Tula and Lipetsk regions as a result of drone crashes.

The ministry said its forces responded to the drone attacks with precision strikes “exclusively at military facilities and military-industrial complex enterprises” in Ukraine.