Russian strikes hit Kyiv apartment block

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - KYIV — Eight people have been killed and more than 130 others were wounded in a barrage of Russian drones and missiles that struck several districts of Kyiv and brought down an apartment block overnight, Ukrainian officials have said. A six-year-old boy and his mother were among the dead, as more than two dozen locations across the capital were hit. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 12 children were among the wounded - the biggest number of children wounded in Kyiv in one night since the full-scale war began. Russian attacks have continued despite US President Donald Trump's threat to impose tougher sanctions on Moscow if Vladimir Putin does not agree to a ceasefire by 8 August. The high-pitched hum of Russian drones could be heard for hours over the city, interrupted by the occasional loud thunder clap of a missile strike. Russia launched 309 drones and eight cruise missiles during the night, according to Ukraine's air force. And although officials say air defences did manage to destroy many of them, there were numerous hits including from cruise missiles. A red-orange glow indicated destruction on the ground. These were the biggest airstrikes since Trump brought forward an earlier deadline to Putin. The threat of more US sanctions appears to have done little to persuade the Russian president to change course. Meanwhile, Russia claimed further success on the battlefield, declaring that it had captured the strategically important hilltop town of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region. Ukraine denied it had fallen, however, and military analysts said fighting there was continuing. — BBC