POLTAVA, Ukraine — Funeral services were held Saturday for the victims of certainly one of the deadliest Russian airstrikes because the war began in Ukraine, while Ukraine's president vowed to spice up domestic arms production by creating underground weapons factories.
Funerals were held within the eastern Ukrainian city of Poltava for the victims of a Russian missile attack on a military training ground that left greater than 50 people dead and greater than 300 injured.
Hundreds of mourners, including grieving families, local residents and officials, gathered for the solemn ceremony on the Assumption Cathedral in the town, about 350 kilometers southeast of Kyiv. Weeping relatives, many holding red carnations, stood over coffins lined up outside the church and decorated with yellow and blue Ukrainian flags. An air raid siren sounded in the course of the service.
Residents knelt in silent remembrance as hearses carrying the victims passed by on their option to a military cemetery outside the town where they were to be buried.
Russia has intensified its missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, targeting energy infrastructure across the country and causing deadly attacks on residential areas.
The attacks underscore Moscow's far-reaching capabilities as Ukraine braces for what’s more likely to be one other harsh winter as Russia continues to wreak havoc on Ukraine's power grid, knocking out around 70 percent of generating capability and disrupting heat and water supplies.
Explosions thundered over the Ukrainian capital overnight as several Russian combat drones were intercepted by the town's air defenses. No injuries or serious damage were reported.
The Ukrainian Air Force said 67 drones were launched over the country overnight and air defenses were lively in 11 regions. 58 drones were shot down and three others were destroyed by electronic weapons systems, it said.
Debris from a drone was photographed on the road in front of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. The press service of the Ukrainian parliament confirmed that drone fragments had been found, but said there have been no casualties and the parliament constructing was not damaged.
A Russian artillery attack on the eastern Ukrainian town of Kostiantynivka killed 4 people and wounded three others on Saturday, Donetsk region governor Vadym Filashkin said. He said the attack damaged a high-rise constructing and native power lines.
Late Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the death toll from the September 3 attack on the Military Institute of Communications in Poltava had risen to 55 and 328 people were injured.
“This includes people with serious injuries such as amputations and internal organ damage,” Zelensky said at a conference outside the Italian city of Milan.
“Our people are under constant threat from Russian missile and drone attacks – every night and every day.”
Zelensky reiterated his call for lifting restrictions on using weapons from Western sources to launch attacks on Russian territory, adding that Ukraine was increasing its own weapons production.
“We are setting up underground weapons production facilities so that Ukrainian soldiers can defend themselves, even if there are delays in deliveries from our partners,” he said.
“We have developed new drones and missiles and are gradually bringing this war back to Russia. At some point, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will feel the pressure to pursue only one thing: peace.”
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also warned Iran on Saturday against supplying weapons to Russia. It warned Tehran that confirmation of the reports would have “devastating consequences” for bilateral relations between Ukraine and Iran.
The Wall Street Journal had previously reported, citing two anonymous sources, that Tehran had recently delivered short-range missiles to be utilized in the invasion of Ukraine.
Kiev continues to perform its own attacks against Russia. In the Russian border region of Voronezh, Governor Alexander Gusev said on Saturday that a drone attack had caused a fireplace and the detonation of “explosive objects”.
He didn’t name the affected villages and asked his followers to not share any photos or videos of the fireplace whose location may very well be determined.
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