Russian strike on Ukraine hospital kill 9

Russian forces hit a medical center in Sumy in northeastern Ukraine yesterday morning then struck again as the building was being evacuated, killing nine people and injuring 20 others, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukrainian prosecutors said that at the time of the attacks, 86 patients and 38 staff members were in the hospital.

"The first attack killed one person and damaged the ceilings of several floors of the hospital," Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram.

As people were being evacuated, the Russians struck again, killing a further five people, he said.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said on Facebook that nine people were killed and twenty others were injured in the attacks.

Meanwhile, a Russian air strike killed three people and injured others in Slatyne in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said yesterday.

Ukraine's air force earlier said they had shot down 69 of 73 drones during an overnight Russian attack that included two ballistic and two cruise missiles.