At least three killed in Kharkiv and Volyn as EU leaders pledge support for Ukraine's winter defense
AI-generated summary
Ukraine has been conducting drone strikes on Russian oil refineries, while Russia continues to target Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Tensions have risen following reports of a proposed energy ceasefire.
At least three people have been killed by Russian drones in Ukraine, with strikes also hitting two shopping centres and key energy grid infrastructure.
Two people died and 12 more were wounded in attacks on three districts of the eastern city of Kharkiv, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. He had earlier put the death toll at three.
In the north-western region of Volyn, which borders Poland, a drone strike on a food-processing facility killed one person and wounded eight others, according to Governor Roman Romaniuk.
The attacks on Ukranian energy grids cut power to around 370,000 in the north-west after strikes on the energy grid, officials said.
Crews set out to repair damage to the grid in Volyn and had reconnected about 100,000 people by later in the morning, Mr Romaniuk added.
The blackout could last for at least 24 hours in Volyn's regional capital, Lutsk, Mayor Andriy Razumovskyi said on Facebook.
Other attacks hit at least two shopping centre, one in the northern city of Sumy, which sits close to the front line, and one in the neighbouring region of Rivne, officials said.
The strikes in Sumy were the latest in a spate of Russian assaults on malls and markets.
Seven people were wounded by drones that hit a major shopping centre and other sites in Rivne, regional governor Oleksandr Koval said.
Russia publicly acknowledged a Ukrainian drone strike on a major oil refinery this week and broadcast images on state media, breaking its usual practice in order to highlight the attack that US President Donald Trump branded a "disgrace".
Ukraine has frequently struck Russian oil refineries in attacks that officials typically describe as hits on "industrial enterprises".
The target of Thursday's attack in Ryazan was immediately identified by the regional governor as one of Russia's largest refineries.
For the first time since the start of the war, state TV showed the aftermath of the Ryazan refinery attack.
In a brief report, the Rossiya-24 channel showed the plant with a relatively small plume of black smoke rising from the sit, no fire was visible.
Russia is eager to publicise the incident, which took place four days after Mr Trump announced an energy ceasefire between Moscow and Kyiv, which neither side confirmed they had agreed to.
Ukraine said it paused such attacks for three days in deference to Mr Trump, but resumed because Russia had continued to pound its thermal power plants and other energy infrastructure.
European Union leaders rallied around President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a summit in Brussels on Friday.
The support is off the back of Mr Trumps remarks on Ukraine's strikes on Russia, a recent diesel deal signed between Russia and the US, and allegations the US is withholding critical intelligence from Ukraine.
"We want to end this war as quick as possible. We don't see now signals from the Russian side that they are ready for this, to end this war. That's why we have to prepare for the winter," Mr Zelenskyy said as he arrived at the summit, hugging many of the leaders as he met them.
"The winter package is not only energy, it's also air defence and funding."
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal said the EU would probably have to provide a new loan to Ukraine to help cover its budget gap for next year.
"Last winter was already hell, this one will be once again like hell," he said.
"We have a lot of gaps to fill, and this is a European mission to fill the gaps that Ukraine needs. Because always, at the start [and] at the end of every conversation."
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
EU to provide new financial loans to Ukraine for budget gaps.
Likely · Within months
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