Russian strikes leave thousands in northern Ukraine without power and water

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian strikes overnight left over 100,000 households without power in northern Ukraine and cut off the water supply to a regional capital, Ukrainian authorities reported Saturday, while civilian casualties rose sharply in the country's embattled east.

The northern Sumy region, which borders Russia, was plunged into dark after Russian strikes late Friday damaged energy infrastructure, the Ukrainian Energy Ministry said. Hours later, the Ukrainian public broadcaster reported that Russian drones hit the provincial capital, also called Sumy, cutting off water by hitting power lines that feed its system of pumps.

Russian state agency RIA cited a local pro-Kremlin “underground” leader as saying that Moscow’s forces overnight hit a plant producing rocket ammunition in the city, which had a pre-war population of over 256,000. The report didn’t specify what weapon was used, and the claim could not be independently verified. Explosions rocked the city during an air raid warning early Saturday, according to Ukrainian media reports.

In the Donetsk region in the east, Russian shelling on Friday and overnight killed 11 civilians and wounded 43, local Gov. Vadym Filashkin reported on Saturday. Five people died in the town of Selydove southeast of Pokrovsk, the eastern city that has emerged as a front-line hotspot. The Ukrainian General Staff on Saturday morning said that Ukrainian and Russian forces clashed 45 times near Pokrovsk over the previous day.

According to Filashkin, three more people died in Chasiv Yar, the strategically located town in Donetsk that has been reduced to rubble under a montshlong Russian assault.

A Ukrainian military spokesperson on Thursday told the AP that Ukrainian forces had retreated from a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar. The town's elevated location gives it strategic importance, and military analysts say its fall would put nearby cities in jeopardy. It could also compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region.

According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russian forces on Friday and overnight launched six rocket strikes and 55 airstrikes across Ukraine, and used more than 70 “glide bombs” — retrofitted Soviet-era weapons that have wrought devastation in the country in recent weeks.

In Kyiv, Ukrainian service members gathered on Saturday to pay last respects to a British combat medic who set up a charity delivering essential supplies to front-line fighters.

Peter Fouché died “in the battlefield” last Thursday as his unit clashed with Russian troops, according to his colleague at Project Konstantin, the volunteer group that since 2022 has ferried drones, vehicles, uniforms and food to Ukrainian soldiers in the east. According to its website, it has also helped evacuate 219 Ukrainian soldiers from combat zones.

At the funeral ceremony, Ukrainian soldiers carried Fouché's coffin through Kyiv’s landmark Independence Square, the site of mass protests in 2014 that forced out a pro-Russian president. Fouché's comrades held back tears as they lined up to say goodbye. Others read prayers as they held up Ukrainian flags and military insignia. Fouche’s partner, wearing a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt, knelt down to embrace the coffin.

A statement released Monday by Halyna Zhuk, Project Konstantin’s Ukrainian co-founder, called Fouché “a hero” and praised his “relentless commitment to Ukraine and her people.”

Fouché, a native of west London who turned 49 this year, helped build a field hospital in Kyiv before he started Project Konstantin, according to the group’s website, and later enlisted in the Ukrainian army. At least five other Britons have been killed while volunteering in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In Russia, two civilians were wounded after Ukrainian forces overnight shelled a border town in the southern Belgorod region, its Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its troops overnight shot down a total of eight drones over the Kursk and Belgorod regions in the south.

In Krasnodar province next to Russia-annexed Crimea, local authorities reported on damage caused during the night by falling drone debris. Debris sparked a fire at an oil depot, set fuel tanks ablaze in a separate location and damaged a cellphone tower, the reports said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Full coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainian servicemen carry a portrait and coffin of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, at the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Ukrainian servicemen carry a portrait and coffin of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, at the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Partner of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, stands at the coffin during the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

A Ukrainian serviceman carries a portrait of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, at the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Partner of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, mourns during the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Ukrainian servicemen carry a coffin of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, at the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

A Ukrainian serviceman holds a portrait of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, at the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Women hug each other during the funeral ceremony of Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Comrade of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, says his last goodbye at the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

People read prayers during the funeral ceremony of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Ukrainian servicemen carry the coffin of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, at the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Obie Williams said he could hear babies crying and branches battering the windows when he spoke with his daughter on the phone last week as Hurricane Helene tore through her rural Georgia town.

Kobe Williams, 27, and her month-old twin boys were hunkering down at their trailer home in Thomson, Georgia, with her mother, Mary Jones, who had been helping her take care of the babies. Williams’ father sensed his daughter was fearing for her safety, and she promised her father she would heed his advice to shelter in the bathroom with her babies until the storm passed.

The single mother had been sitting in bed holding sons Khyzier and Khazmir and chatting on the phone with various family members while the storm raged outside.

Minutes later, she was no longer answering their calls.

Jones, who was on the other side of the trailer, described hearing a loud crash as a tree fell through the roof of her daughter’s bedroom.

“Kobe, Kobe, answer me, please,” Jones cried out in desperation, but she received no response.

Kobe and the twins were found dead.

“I’d seen pictures when they were born and pictures every day since, but I hadn’t made it out there yet to meet them,” Obie Williams told The Associated Press days after the storm ravaged eastern Georgia. “Now I’ll never get to meet my grandsons. It’s devastating.”

The babies, born Aug. 20, are the youngest known victims of a storm that had claimed 200 lives across Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia and the Carolinas as of Thursday. Among the other young victims are a 7-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy from about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south in Washington County, Georgia.

“She was so excited to be a mother of those beautiful twin boys,” said Chiquita Jones-Hampton, Kobe’ Jones’ niece. “She was doing such a good job and was so proud to be their mom.”

Jones-Hampton, who considered Kobe a sister, said the family is in shock and heartbroken.

In Obie Williams’ home city of Augusta, 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of his daughter’s home in Thomson, power lines stretched along the sidewalks, tree branches blocked the roads and utility poles lay cracked and broken. The debris left him trapped in his neighborhood near the South Carolina border for a little over a day after the storm barreled through.

He said one of his sons dodged fallen trees and downed power lines to check on Kobe, and he could barely bear to tell his father what he found.

Many of his 14 other children are still without power in their homes across Georgia. Some have sought refuge in Atlanta, and others have traveled to Augusta to see their father and mourn together, he said.

He described his daughter as a lovable, social and strong woman. She always had a smile and loved to make people laugh, he said.

And she loved to dance, Jones-Hampton said.

“That was my baby,” Williams said. “And everybody loved her.”

This story has been updated to clarify the circumstances of the deaths after further conversations with family members.

Andy Brown takes a break on top of what remains of a tree that destroyed his SUV when it fell during Hurricane Helene on in Augusta, Ga., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., greets people who were impacted by Hurricane Helene in Augusta, Ga., Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024, during a visit with Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Volunteers for Operation BBQ Relief prepare meals for people without power or water, Oct. 1, 2024, in Augusta, Georgia. (AP Photo / Jeffrey Collins)

Andy Brown uses a chain saw to cut apart a tree that destroyed his SUV when it fell during Hurricane Helene on in Augusta, Ga., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Undated photos twin brothers Khazmir Williams and Khyzier Williams, who were killed along with their mother Kobe Williams, in their home in Thomson, Ga., by a falling tree during Hurricane Helene on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Obie Lee Williams via AP)

This undated photo shows Kobe Williams, who was killed with her twin sons Khazmir Williams and Khyzier Williams in their home in Thomson, Ga., by a falling tree during Hurricane Helene on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Obie Lee Williams via AP)

This undated photo combo shows from left, Kobe Williams, and her twin sons Khazmir Williams and Khyzier Williams who were killed in their home in Thomson, Ga., by a falling tree during Hurricane Helene on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (Obie Lee Williams via AP)