On September 17, the Ukrainian government said Russia had attacked a series of infrastructure facilities in the border region of Sumy, causing power outages in some areas.
“During the night, the enemy used Shahed type drones to carry out a large-scale airstrike on Sumy,” Ukrinform news agency quoted the local government in Sumy as saying on its Telegram channel.
The attack caused damage in the Konotop, Okhtyrka, Sumy districts and critical infrastructure using backup power systems.
Water utilities in Sumy said the attack caused a power outage overnight, forcing them to switch to emergency power.
Sumy’s acting mayor, Artem Kobzar, said there were no casualties in the city.
Air defenses shot down 16 drones in Sumy. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian air force said Russia had deployed 51 attack drones across the country overnight, of which 34 were shot down.
The Ukrainian army estimated that there were a total of 157 points of engagement with Russia on September 17.
In 24 hours, Russia carried out 84 raids, dropping 127 glide bombs and more than 4,000 artillery strikes.
Across the border in the Kursk region, Russia is also fighting back fiercely.
On September 17, Mr. Apty Alaudinov, commander of the Akhmat special forces unit, told TASS news agency that the Russian army is reinforcing the troops in the Borki residential area, bringing additional units here.
Earlier this week, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had liberated the residential areas of Uspenovka and Borki in the Kursk region.
Governor Alexey Smirnov of the Kursk region confirmed that Russian air defense forces shot down a Kursk missile there and urged local residents to be careful of falling missile fragments.
The Russian Defense Ministry also announced that it had shot down 16 Ukrainian drones in the Bryansk and Kursk border regions.
Russia has stepped up its attacks as Ukraine has urged its Western allies to allow the use of long-range missiles deep into Russian territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the West would confront Russia directly if it allowed Ukraine to attack Russian territory with Western-made long-range missiles.
