'Russia targets life' — Russian attacks kill 9, injure 42 over past day, damaging maternity hospital in Kharkiv

Editor's note: The story was updated with President Volodymyr Zelensky's comment regarding the recent Russian attacks and Ukraine's Air Force's report.

Russian attacks against Ukraine have killed at least nine civilians and injured at least 42 others over the past day, regional authorities reported on July 11.

Russian forces launched 79 Shahed drones and decoys from the Russian cities of Kursk, Millerovo, and Primorsk-Akhtarsk against Ukraine overnight, according to Ukraine's Air Force.

Ukraine's air defense shot down 44 drones, and 16 were intercepted by electronic warfare or disappeared from radars. Another 19 struck targets across eight locations, with debris reported in three additional areas, according to the statement.

In Kharkiv Oblast, one person was killed, while another 14 were injured due to the Russian strikes against 10 settlements, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

In the regional center of Kharkiv, Russian drones injured nine people, including women in a maternity hospital. The medical facility was damaged as well.

"Women in labor with children, women after surgery. Fortunately, there were no children among the victims. Russia targets life. Even where it is just beginning," President Volodymyr Zelensky said, stressing the critical need for additional air defense for Ukraine.

Russia launched new waves of drones in the morning of July 11, according to Zelensky.

In the village of Myrne, a 57-year-old man and a 66-year-old woman were injured, while a 74-year-old man suffered injuries in the village of Lyman. A 65-year-old woman was also injured in a Russian strike against the town of Chuhuiv, and a 43-year-old man was killed and a 73-year-old woman suffered injuries in the town of Kupiansk.

In Donetsk Oblast, Russian strikes killed seven people: three in the town of Pokrovsk, as well as four people in the villages of Zapovidne, Rodynske, Zatyshok, and Viroliubivka. Russian attacks also injured nine people in several settlements, Governor Vadym Filashkin reported.

In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Russian artillery and drones attacked the Nikopol district, killing a man and injuring a 22-year-old woman, according to Governor Serhii Lysak.

In Kherson Oblast, Russia targeted 37 settlements, including the regional center of Kherson, over the past day. As a result of the attacks, 14 people were injured, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.

In Sumy Oblast, a 62-year-old woman suffered injuries in the Sumy community, while two other residents were injured in the Sad community, according to the local military administration. Nearly 120 strikes were recorded across 32 settlements.

In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, a 48-year-old man suffered injuries in the Russian attack at the Zaporizhzhia district. Russian forces launched 592 strikes across 16 localities in the region in the past day, according to the local military administration.

‘You think the end has come’ — as Russian attacks on Ukraine escalate, Kyiv grapples with terrifying new normal

In the early hours of July 10, many Kyiv residents were jolted awake by the thundering sound of ballistic missiles shaking their buildings. Others were already lying awake in beds, bathtubs, and underground shelters across the city, as residents endure a new normal of intensified Russian strikes on the capital. “You lie down, look into the abyss of night, and hear the loudest attack,” Hryhorii Matsebok, a 47-year-old artist, told the Kyiv Independent. “And you think the end has already come.”

The Kyiv IndependentAndrea Januta