Ahead of Ukrainian President's Visit to the US…Russia Launches Ballistic Missile Attack

On the 17th (local time), a day before a meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, and Donald Trump, President of the United States, Russia launched a ballistic missile attack on Ukraine, according to The Kyiv Independent.

According to the media, Ihor Terekhov, Mayor of Kharkiv, announced around 11:00 p.m. that a missile had struck a residential building in the Kharkiv industrial district. He added that at least eight people, including a 13-year-old girl, were injured, and 12 buildings were damaged in this attack.

A Russian missile also struck near educational institutions in the center of Sumy around 10:45 p.m., but no casualties were reported.

Subsequently, Russia attacked the border village of Nova Sloboda in Ukraine with guided aerial bombs, injuring a 57-year-old woman and damaging 10 houses. Outside the northern region, explosions were also reported in the southern city of Odesa around 11:40 p.m.

Russia also received drone attacks from Ukraine. According to Reuters, a train station in Voronezh, a Russian region bordering Ukraine, was attacked by Ukrainian drones, injuring one person and causing temporary delays in train operations. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that nine drones were shot down over Voronezh and 46 were destroyed west of Moscow.

The Ukrainian Air Force also reported that 61 out of 85 Russian drones were shot down, and drones and missiles from Russia struck 12 locations across Ukraine.

Kim So-yeon, journalist at Hankyung.com sue123@hankyung.com