Russia is bombarding Ukraine with more airstrikes as part of an intensified campaign

Kiev, Ukraine – Russian missiles, bombs and drones pounded three regions of Ukraine with targeted nighttime attacks, officials said Friday, as Russia mounts an intensified air campaign that Ukrainian officials say will require more Western help to counter – even as the doubts deepen what Kiev can expect of a new American government.

Since the war Beginning almost three years ago after Russia’s large-scale invasion of its neighbor, the Russian military has repeatedly used its superior air force to blow up civilian targets throughout Ukraine. According to the United Nations, more than 10,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the conflict.

A 500-kilogram hover bomb seriously damaged an apartment building in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, in the middle of the night, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said. At least 25 people, including a baby, were injured, he said.

Sliding bombsfor which Ukraine has no effective countermeasure, destroy their targets, sending out a powerful shock wave and often leaving a wide crater.

In the southern city of Odesa, a Russian drone strike killed one person and injured nine others, regional governor Oleh Kiper said.

In the capital Kiev, falling wreckage from intercepted rockets injured four people, regional governor Ruslan Kravchenko said.

In total, Russia fired 92 drones and five missiles at Ukraine during the night, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Four missiles and 62 drones were intercepted and 26 drones were electronically jammed, the report claimed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country needs more help to fight back against Russia’s military might, even as uncertainty grows about what Western aid to Ukraine can expect after Donald Trump was elected the next US president this week .

“It is important to act jointly and decisively at the international level whenever Russia tries to destroy our lives,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. “This is the only way to achieve a just peace and stop the deaths of our people.”

Russia launched about 2,000 drones at Ukraine in October, about a third more than the previous month. This is the third month in a row that there has been a significant increase, the British Ministry of Defense said on Friday.

Russia’s fire rates have risen since the middle of the year, the report said, adding that the latest high monthly figures are likely to become the norm.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine