Russian Drone Strike on Ukrainian Regions Kills Four, Kyiv Says 

Firefighters work at a site of Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine February 23, 2024. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via Reuters)
Firefighters work at a site of Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine February 23, 2024. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via Reuters)
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Russian Drone Strike on Ukrainian Regions Kills Four, Kyiv Says 

Firefighters work at a site of Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine February 23, 2024. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via Reuters)
Firefighters work at a site of Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine February 23, 2024. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via Reuters)

Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian regions in the south and east killed four people overnight and damaged residential and commercial buildings, officials said on Friday. 

Ukrainian air defenses shot down 23 out of 31 Russian-launched drones over five regions, the air force said. 

"Another difficult night for Ukrainians. The enemy launched three dozen Shaheds and six missiles at peaceful settlements of the country," said Oleksiy Kuleba, deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's office. 

The attacks killed four people and wounded nine others, Kuleba said. 

Three people were killed in the Black Sea port of Odesa when a Russian drone hit a commercial area, causing a blaze, regional governor Oleh Kiper said. 

In an attack on the Donetsk region near the front lines, one civilian was killed in the town of Myrnohrad, and 21 houses, a school, and a multi-story residential building were damaged, Kuleba said. 

In a post on Telegram, the military's Southern Forces said they had intercepted nine drones in the Odesa region. 

The military said missiles were also used in the attacks, but failed to hit any targets. 

Pictures posted by the military showed heavy damage to buildings in the area and rescue teams picking their way through debris. 

As the war enters its third year, Russia has intensified its bombardments of Ukrainian ports, including Odesa, and grain infrastructure in recent months after Moscow pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime deal that enabled Ukraine’s exports to reach many countries facing the threat of hunger. 

Kyiv has since set up an alternative corridor to ship grain and other products via its Black Sea ports near Odesa.  

In the city of Dnipro in the southeast, a Russian drone hit an apartment building, injuring at least eight people and damaging the two top floors. Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, wrote on Telegram that the search ran through the night and other residents might still be under the rubble. 



Traffic on French High-Speed Trains Gradually Improving after Sabotage

Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
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Traffic on French High-Speed Trains Gradually Improving after Sabotage

Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)
Workers operate to reconnect the signal box to the track in its technical ducts in Vald' Yerres, near Chartres on July 26, 2024, as France's high-speed rail network was hit by an attack disrupting the transport system, hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AFP)

Traffic on France's TGV high-speed trains was gradually returning to normal on Saturday after engineers worked overnight repairing sabotaged signal stations and cables that caused travel chaos on Friday, the opening day of the Paris Olympic Games.

In Friday's pre-dawn attacks on the high-speed rail network vandals damaged infrastructure along the lines connecting Paris with cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east. Another attack on the Paris-Marseille line was foiled, French rail operator SNCF said.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

"On the Eastern high-speed line, traffic resumed normally this morning at 6:30 a.m. while on the North, Brittany and South-West high-speed lines, 7 out of 10 trains on average will run with delays of 1 to 2 hours," SNCF said in a statement on Saturday morning.

"At this stage, traffic will remain disrupted on Sunday on the North axis and should improve on the Atlantic axis for weekend returns," it added.

SNCF reiterated that transport plans for teams competing in the Olympics would be guaranteed.