SLOVYANSK, Ukraine -- Russian shelling destroyed a children's sports facility and an administrative building in the center of Slovyansk in the Donetsk region, while Moscow also targeted Ukrainian regions with hundreds of drones.
"The attack happened today, on April 15, at 5 a.m. The children's sports facility, which was a historical landmark of the city, has been completely destroyed," Slovyansk Mayor Vadym Lyakh reported on Telegram.
Almost 40 high-rise buildings and 15 cars were damaged in the attack, he added, saying Russian forces used a 1.5-ton bomb to target the city center.
'Brutal' Strikes
An elderly resident of Slovyansk told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service that he received a shocking call from his neighbor following the attack, who told him that he didn't have an apartment anymore. "The balcony door, frames -- everything flew out," he said.
Another elderly resident said she had to crawl through shattered glass after falling due to the blast. "I have injuries all over my legs.... I couldn't get up until my family came."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on April 15 that Russian forces had also launched "brutal" strikes against at least six other regions. At least 324 drones and three ballistic missiles were used in the overnight attack, Ukraine's military forces reported.
According to the governor of the southern region of Zaporizhzhya, Ivan Fedorov, two people were killed in the attack there. Fedorov published a video of what he said was a shop that had been destroyed, saying one of the victims died inside.
Almost two dozen other people were injured in the Dnipropetrovsk and Cherkasy regions, local officials reported.
"We have been living in these conditions for four years," said Serhiy, a Dnipro resident, commenting on the attack on the city and adding he had never heard a blast like the one overnight before.
The Russian military did not immediately comment on its latest air strikes.
Ukraine Targets Russia's Bashkortostan Region
Meanwhile, the head of Russia's Bashkortostan region, Radiy Khabirov, reported that two Ukrainian drones were shot down, their debris hitting the Sterlitamak industrial complex.
Located more than 1,000 kilometers from the front lines in Ukraine, the Bashkortostan region has been targeted by the Ukrainian military a number of times over the past year.
"All emergency services are on the scene, putting out the fire. We're working to get more details," Khabirov said on Telegram on April 15. He later claimed a driver for the emergency services had died following the attack.
Ukraine's Drone Forces Commander Robert Brovdi, widely known in Ukraine for his call-sign, Madyar, confirmed that Kyiv targeted the petrochemical plant in the region.
Multiple Russian and Ukrainian Telegram channels posted user-generated footage purportedly showing pillars of smoke rising from the facility.
The incident is the latest in a series of attacks targeting oil infrastructure inside Russia in recent weeks.
Last month, seeking to push oil prices down amid the effective closure of the key Strait of Hormuz, the White House issued limited waivers on the sale of Russian oil -- which has been critical for the Kremlin to fund its war on Ukraine.
Kyiv, for its part, has been pushing its drone interception technologies -- developed to combat Russia's Iranian-made Shahed drones -- to countries in the Middle East that have been targeted by Tehran.
Separately, Ukraine continues to expand its drone production partnerships across Europe, with Germany becoming the latest country to sign a cooperation agreement.
"Preparations are under way for new agreements with our other partners as well. Each such result guarantees the protection of thousands of Ukrainian lives," Zelenskyy said on April 15.
