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Russia attacks 9 regions of Ukraine, kills at least 4 civilians on Dec. 17

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Russia attacked nine regions in the east, south, and north of Ukraine, killing at least four civilians and wounding at least nine over the past day, governors said on Dec. 18.

In the southern Kherson Oblast, Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych reported that Russian troops shelled the region 54 times on Dec. 17, killing at least three civilians and wounding six.

In neighboring Zaporizhzhia Oblast, emergency services said that a residential building and two cars caught fire in the town of Orikhiv in the central part of the region due to Russian shelling. No casualties were reported.

Meanwhile, Odesa Oblast Governor Maksym Marchenko reported that Russia fired two Onyx missiles at the southern region, but they were shot down by Ukraine’s air defense. No casualties were reported.

In the eastern Donetsk Oblast, national police said that Russian rocket and artillery fire had struck six settlements, including Avdiivka, damaging residential and commercial buildings, as well as undisclosed “infrastructure” and cars.

Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported that one civilian was killed in the town of Chasiv Yar, some 30 kilometers southeast of Kramatorsk, while one was wounded in the embattled city of Bakhmut.

In the northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said that a 32-year-old emergency service employee was blown up by a mine in the liberated village of Hrakove, near Chuhuiv that Russia briefly occupied early in the full-scale invasion. The wounded is hospitalized in serious condition, he added. Shelling of the region continued.

In the central Dnipropetrovsk Oblast’s city of Nikopol, located across the Dnipro River from Moscow-held Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, a 59-year-old man was wounded due to shelling, according to Governor Valentyn Reznichenko. He received medical treatment and is being treated at home. Nearby settlements, including Marhanets and Chervonohryhorivska, had also come under heavy artillery overnight.

In the northern Sumy Oblast, Governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi said that Russian forces settlements near the Russian border with grenade launchers, machine guns, mortars, and light weapons, but reported no casualties.

The town of Ochakiv, located along the Black Sea coast in the southern Mykolaiv Oblast, was also attacked with anti-aircraft missiles during the day on Dec. 17, but no casualties were reported, according to Governor Vitaliy Kim.

Fighting continues in Luhansk Oblast, but no official information on casualties has come from the region since it is under Russian occupation.

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The Kyiv Independent news desk

We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.

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