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Russia carries out deadly attacks in Ukraine as Zelensky heads to Paris in search of weapons

2025-11-17 08:21:20, Kosova & Bota CNA

Russia carries out deadly attacks in Ukraine as Zelensky heads to Paris in

Russia has continued its deadly bombardment of Ukrainian cities, killing at least three people in the Kharkiv region overnight, local officials said on Monday.

The attacks came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prepares for the next stop on his tour of European capitals to drum up more support.

Ukraine's emergency services reported on Monday that three people were killed and at least 13 others were injured, including four children, by a Russian attack on the eastern city of Balaklava, a major railway hub in the Kharkiv region.

Vitaliy Karabanov, head of the military administration in Balaklava, said the attack hit the city center and wounded at least three children. Nine people were hospitalized, and emergency crews were at the scene, he added.

Details of these attacks cannot be independently confirmed, and it is not clear which targets were hit. Balaklava was captured by Russian forces shortly after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but was retaken by Ukrainian forces a few months later.

Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities as the winter months approach, raising fears of power shortages during the cold weather. Moscow has also regularly struck Ukrainian civilian areas, although it denies targeting such facilities.

Meanwhile, Zelensky has embarked on a trip to key European capitals in an effort to secure energy and weapons supplies for Ukraine, which is facing ongoing air and ground offensives from Russia.

Zelensky is expected to arrive in Paris today to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron - a strong supporter of Ukraine. The first meeting between them is expected to take place at the Villacoublay air base outside the capital.

Zelensky has said that "a big deal with France" is being prepared, but it is not clear whether any major announcements will be made during his visit.

He has asked Western partners for additional long-range missiles to hit launchers deep inside Russia. France has previously promised to send medium-range Aster missiles to defend Ukraine.

The Ukrainian leader will travel to Spain on November 18.

To ease the energy crisis caused by Russian missile attacks, Zelensky was in Athens on Sunday, where he signed an agreement to import liquefied natural gas supplied by the United States starting next month until March 2026.

The move came as Zelensky vowed to reform the country's scandal-ridden energy sector in an attempt to quell anger over allegations of widespread corruption.

On November 10, Ukraine's anti-corruption agency announced a "large-scale operation," raising suspicions of tens of millions of dollars in corruption in the energy sector.

Zelensky said on Sunday that the heads of at least three state-owned energy companies would be dismissed and replaced soon, and that other changes were being prepared.

It remains to be seen whether these changes will be enough to ease the pressure on Zelensky and satisfy Kiev's Western allies, who have demanded that he do more to curb endemic corruption as the country continues to fight against full-scale Russian occupation. /REL