KYIV: Russian attacks killed eight people in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, as President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of cynically targeting civilians.

Russian forces have stepped up their aerial bombardments in recent weeks, with Zelensky calling nearly daily for his Western backers to deliver air defence systems to save Ukrainian lives.

“A few air defence systems could fundamentally change the situation,” Zelensky said in an evening address posted on social media.

“It is totally unacceptable that so many countries in the world are still thinking about how to counter terror, even though only a few political decisions are needed,” he said.

Drone attacks on Ukr­aine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv killed four people, including three rescuers responding to an earlier strike, Interior Min­ister Igor Klymenko said.

Twelve others were injured in what Zelensky termed a “despicable and cynical attack”. “When the rescuers arrived at the scene of the strike, the terrorists attacked again,” he said.

In a separate incident, Russian artillery fire killed two — a married couple aged 53 and 51 — in the town of New York, eastern Donetsk region.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2024