Russian attack kills 3 in Odesa while Ukraine targets Russian oil infrastructure, officials say
Kyiv (AP): A Russian drone attack on Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa killed two women and a toddler, authorities said Monday, while Ukrainian long-range drones targeted Russia's key Black Sea port for oil exports.
The nighttime attack on Odesa heavily damaged an apartment block, killing the women and a 2-year-old child, officials said. Rescuers working under floodlights pulled four people from the rubble.
Eleven people were hospitalised, including a pregnant woman and two children — the youngest less than a year old, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
Russia has pounded civilian areas of Ukraine since it invaded its neighbour just over four years ago, killing more than 15,000 people, according to the United Nations.
It has also taken aim at Ukraine's power grid, and the Russian overnight barrages also hit energy infrastructure in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Dnipro regions, Zelenskyy said.
More than 300,000 households were without electricity in the northern Chernihiv region after distribution facilities were damaged in attacks, according to the regional power utility.
Over the past week, Russia has launched at Ukraine more than 2,800 attack drones, nearly 1,350 powerful glide bombs and more than 40 missiles of various types, according to Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy expressed concern in a weekend interview with The Associated Press that the war with Iran is draining stockpiles of weapons that Ukraine needs to defend itself, especially American-made Patriot air defence systems that can stop missiles.
Zelenskyy said Monday that the country's partners “need to strengthen air defence together so that the interception rate of drones and missiles continues to increase.”
With U.S.-led peace efforts stalled, Zelenskyy added: “Russia has no intention of stopping” its invasion.
Ukraine has fought back by developing its own long-range drones, which now reach targets some 1,500 kilometres (900 miles) inside Russia.
Ukraine has used them recently to hammer Russian oil facilities as Moscow looks to boost its exports after the Trump administration gave it a temporary waiver from sanctions to ease supply constraints. Kyiv officials complain that Russia will use the additional revenue on new weapons to hit Ukraine harder.
Russia's Defence Ministry said that air defences downed 50 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Krasnodar Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said that eight people, including two children, were injured in a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on Novorossiisk, one of Russia's largest Black Sea ports. The attack damaged six apartment buildings and two private houses, he said.
Unconfirmed media reports said the drones targeted the Sheskharis oil terminal at the Black Sea port.
Last week, Ukraine's drones struck oil facilities in the Gulf of Finland, in northwest Russia.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
