Russian drones kill three in Ukraine, cut power to over a million

KYIV: Russian drones killed at least three people across Ukraine early on Friday (Oct 16), hit two shopping centres and temporarily knocked out power to over 1 million people nationwide after strikes on the energy grid, officials said.

A 71-year-old woman and a 58-year-old man died and 12 more people were wounded in attacks on three districts of the eastern city of Kharkiv, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. He had earlier put the death toll at three.

Ukraine's energy ministry said its repair crews had returned power to over 1 million people who had lost it as a result of Russian attacks on Friday. It was not clear how many were still without power.

In the northwestern region of Volyn, which borders Poland, a drone strike on a food-processing facility killed one person and wounded eight others, according to Governor Roman Romaniuk. He said 370,000 people were temporarily without power in the morning, although 100,000 of them got supply back later on.

The blackout could last for at least 24 hours in Volyn's regional capital, Lutsk, Mayor Andriy Razumovskyi said on Facebook.

Romaniuk said that drone attacks continued throughout the day, striking a customs terminal and torching about 10 trucks in the town of Kovel, which sits on a major trunk road from Kyiv to Poland.

Other attacks hit at least two shopping centres - one in the northern city of Sumy, which sits close to the front line, and one in the neighbouring region of Rivne, officials said - the latest in a spate of Russian assaults on malls and markets.

Pictures from emergency services in Sumy showed blood spattered across the floor and shots of the centre's damaged entrance.

Seven people were wounded by drones that hit a major shopping centre and other sites in Rivne, regional governor Oleksandr Koval said.

Ukraine's energy ministry said large parts of the city of Rivne and the surrounding area were without power after attacks on energy infrastructure there.