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An entire family – a married couple and their two young sons – have been killed in an overnight Russian drone attack in Ukraine’s north-eastern Sumy region, local officials have said.<\/p>\n
Regional head Oleh Hryhorov said a residential building was hit in the village of Chernechchyna. The bodies of the two children, aged four and six, and their parents were later recovered from the wreckage.<\/p>\n
Ukraine’s air force said its units shot down 46 out of 65 Russian drones across the country – but there were 19 direct hits in six locations.<\/p>\n
Russia’s military has not commented. In a statement, it said 81 Ukrainian drones were destroyed overnight in five Russian regions. No casualties were reported.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.<\/p>\n
In a post on Telegram on Tuesday morning, Hryhorov accused Russian forces of deliberately targeting a residential building in Chernechchyna.<\/p>\n
He said the loss of an entire family was “a tragedy that we will never forget or forgive”.<\/p>\n
Ukraine’s state emergencies service DSNS later said two residential buildings were partially destroyed in the village.<\/p>\n
It also posted photos showing firefighters tackling blazes after the Russian strike.<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, Russia has intensified its aerial assaults on Ukraine, regularly launching hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles.<\/p>\n
Ukraine has long been urging its Western allies to provide it with enough advanced air defence weaponry to be able to cope with almost daily Russian strikes.<\/p>\n
Kyiv has also been seeking Western missiles that could hit major Russian cities far from the front line, arguing that this would seriously weaken Russia’s military industry and force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n