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Attacks in Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions leave 28 dead, Moscow-backed officials say
Russia-installed officials in the partially occupied Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Luhansk said Ukrainian attacks left at least 28 people dead as Russia and Ukraine continued to exchange drone attacks overnight into Saturday.
A Ukrainian attack Friday on the small town of Sadove in Ukraine’s partially occupied Sadove region killed 22 and wounded 15 people, Moscow-backed governor Vladimir Saldo said.
Russian state news agency Tass cited Saldo as saying that Ukrainian forces first struck the town with a French-made guided bomb, then attacked again with a U.S.-supplied HIMARS missile. He said Ukrainian forces had “deliberately made a repeat strike to create greater numbers of casualties” when “residents of nearby houses ran out to help the injured”.
Further east, Leonid Pasechnik, the Russia-installed governor in Ukraine’s partially occupied Luhansk region, said Saturday that two more bodies had been pulled from the rubble following Friday’s Ukrainian missile attack on the regional capital, also called Luhansk. Russian state news agency Interfax cited regional authorities as saying this brought the death toll to six. Pasechnik also said 60 people were wounded in the attack.
Pasechnik declared Saturday a day of mourning in the region, with public events canceled.
Ukraine did not comment on either assault.
Meanwhile, drone attacks between Russia and Ukraine persisted.
Ukraine launched a barrage of drones across Russian territory overnight Friday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday. Twenty-five drones were reportedly destroyed over Russia’s southern Kuban and Astrakhan regions, the western Tula region, and the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula.
On Saturday morning, officials said air defenses for the first time shot down Ukrainian drones over the North Ossetia region in the North Caucasus, some 900 km (560 miles) east of the front line in Ukraine’s partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that one drone had been destroyed, whereas regional Gov. Sergei Menyailo reported three downed drones over the region. Menyailo said that the target was a military airfield.
Ukrainian air defense overnight shot down nine out of 13 Russian drones over the central Poltava region, southeastern Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and the Kharkiv region in the northeast, Ukraine’s air force said Saturday.
Dnipropetrovsk regional Gov. Serhiy Lysak said the overnight drone attack damaged commercial and residential buildings.
Sundance Head, the 2016 winner of “The Voice,” is recovering after an accidental shooting at his ranch in Texas, his publicist told CBS News.
The 46-year-old Houston native – whose name is Jason Head – was putting a gun away at his ranch when it “slipped out of the holster, hit the side of the jeep and discharged into his stomach area,” the singer’s publicist Trey Newman told CBS News in a statement on Saturday.
Newman said the bullet missed any vital organs and the singer is expected to make a full recovery.
In a post on Head’s official Facebook page, his wife Misty offered updates after the incident and asked for prayers.
Tyler Golden/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
In the post, she said that after the bullet hit Head, he ran to the end of the road to flag down a car that could help him.
“He’s so lucky and grateful to be alive. Thank you to the Good Samaritan who stopped and helped and the fast response by life flight and the doctors,” she wrote.
Misty added that the bullet was logged in the fatty tissue of his stomach and that “him being on the bigger side was a good thing.”
“Prayers answered as no internal damage was done by the bullet. Thank you all for the prayers,” she said.
Head first rose to fame after a 2007 appearance on “American Idol,” where he revealed he is the son of singer Roy Head. He went on to compete on “The Voice” in 2016 as part of Blake Shelton’s team and he was crowned the winner.
CBS News
10 newborn babies killed after fire engulfs hospital ward in northern India, injuring 16 others, authorities say
A fire tore through a neonatal intensive care unit in a hospital in northern India, killing 10 newborn babies and injuring 16 others, authorities said.
The fire occurred late Friday at a hospital in Jhansi city in India’s Uttar Pradesh state. Officials said the blaze spread quickly through the ward, where 55 infants were being treated. Forty-five babies were rescued and are receiving medical care, said Bimal Kumar Dubey, a local official.
It was not immediately clear what sparked the blaze. Brajesh Pathak, the deputy chief minister of the state, visited the hospital and met with families on Saturday. He pledged government support for the victims’ families and promised a thorough investigation.
“We will identify those responsible for this tragedy and take strict action. The government stands with families during this difficult time,” he said.
AP
When the firefighters arrived, the ward was engulfed in flames and plumes of smoke. Rescuers had to break through windows to reach the newborn babies. Eyewitnesses said the rescue operation began about 30 minutes after the fire erupted, delaying evacuation efforts.
The accident has raised questions over the hospital’s safety measures. While fire alarms had been installed in the intensive care unit, parents and witnesses said they did not activate during the blaze. Hospital staff acted only after they saw signs of smoke and fire.
“If the safety alarm had worked, we could have acted sooner and saved more lives,” said Naresh Kumar, a parent who lost his baby.
Akhtar Hussain, whose son was rescued and is receiving treatment in an adjacent ward, agreed that the tragedy could have been prevented if the hospital had better safety protocols.
Fires are common in India, where building laws and safety norms are often flouted by builders and residents. Poor maintenance and lack of proper firefighting equipment in the country also leads to deaths.
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