Russian strikes kill seven in Ukraine, targeting transport hubs

At least seven people were killed Wednesday in Russian strikes across Ukraine that targeted road, rail, and maritime transport infrastructure, sparking fires in Kyiv. The attacks mark an intensification of long-range strikes on both sides of the front. Two people died and 41 were wounded in Kyiv, where a gas station, business center, and shops were damaged. Ukrainian railway chief Oleksandre Pertsovsky said the capital's rail network was "under fire." In Odessa, a Russian strike killed the Ukrainian captain of an Antigua-and-Barbuda-flagged cargo ship, while four people died in a residential strike in Donetsk. President Volodymyr Zelensky accuses Russia of seeking to "paralyze the economy," as Ukraine faces an "astronomical" budget deficit and record military spending. Kyiv has also intensified its own strikes on Russian oil facilities and Black Sea shipping, with Turkey's president calling the maritime attacks "unacceptable."