Russian drone attack on Sumy kills 2, injures 12

Russian airstrikes on the city of Sumy, in northeastern Ukraine, killed two people and wounded 12 others this morning, regional authorities said in a statement.

Twelve buildings, five homes, a shop and three vehicles were damaged when three planes struck the city at around 5am, according to the national police. Russia has bombed the region and its critical infrastructure with deadly airstrikes in recent weeks.

A drone strike on the small town of Hlukhiv in the region on Tuesday evening killed 12 people, including a child. On Sunday evening, a mortar attack on Sumy killed eleven people and injured eighty-nine others, in addition to leaving the regional administration powerless.

Israeli forces today shelled southern Lebanon and the suburbs of the capital Beirut, killing at least five doctors, and ground troops and Hezbollah fighters clashed in the south.

Israel continued its aggressive military campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, dampening hopes that US envoy efforts would lead to a near-term ceasefire. US mediator Amos Hochstein said this week in Beirut that a deal was “in our hands.”

He met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz before returning to Washington, the Axios news agency reported. His trip was to end more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah along Lebanon’s southern border, which intensified when Israel launched an offensive in late September and sent ground troops into Lebanon on October 1st.

Israeli forces have been battling Hezbollah in small towns along the border and this week continued on the outskirts of Khiyam, a town about six kilometers from the border. Hezbollah said it fired rockets at Israeli forces east of Khiam at least four times today.

Lebanese security officials told Reuters that Israeli forces had also entered several towns in the west. They said it was likely Israel was trying to isolate Khiam before attacking the city.

Four Italian soldiers were seriously injured when two rockets exploded at a UNIFIL peacekeeping base in southern Lebanon, a UNIFIL spokesman said today. Italian officials said an investigation was underway.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Italian media that Hezbollah could be behind the attack. Israeli raids on two other towns in southern Lebanon killed five doctors from aid workers linked to Hezbollah, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

More than 200 doctors have been killed by Israelis in the past year, the Ministry of Health said. Evacuation warning and strikes

Israel said its aim was to ensure the return of tens of thousands of people displaced from northern Israel by Hezbollah rocket attacks, which began firing across the border in support of Hamas at the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.

Israel also launched new attacks on southern Beirut, where Hezbollah was previously based. Abeer Darwish, who lives in a building that was demolished today in the southern suburbs of Beirut, will leave his home immediately after receiving an eviction order from the Israeli army.

He watched as the Israeli shelling reduced the building to rubble. “Do you know that many of these homeowners bought them on credit? The lifeblood, the memories, and the security are gone… which Israel decided to steal from us,” Darwish said. Evacuation orders were issued today at X for several homes in the area.

Reuters footage showed one of the shells appeared to have hit a multi-story building, which fell into the sky.