At least four people killed in Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine

At least four people were killed today in Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian authorities announced

In a Russian air attack on the city of Kupyansk in the east of Ukraine, one person was killed, while 10 people were wounded, regional authorities announced.

"The enemy struck near the store and the city market," regional governor Oleh Sinjehubov said in his first statement about the morning attack on the city in Kharkiv Oblast.

A 73-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital in serious condition and it was not possible to save her, he added.

Russian shelling later in the day killed three people in the area around the strategic hub of Pokrovsk in eastern Donetsk Oblast, Governor Vadim Filashkin said on Telegram.

Two men aged 58 and 65 and one 63-year-old woman were killed, he said.

Filashkin said that Pokrovsk and its surroundings were targeted by Russian troops and called on the local population to evacuate.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army also said that the most intense Russian attacks along the front line are taking place in the Pokrovsk region, including near the mining town of Selidovo.

Russian media and war bloggers reported on Thursday that Russian forces advanced near the town, which is located about 20 kilometers southeast of Pokrovskoe.

Earlier on Thursday, Ukrainian air defenses shot down 40 of 50 drones launched by Russia in 11 of its regions, while another seven were diverted by electronic jamming of their navigation systems, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement.

The drones were shot down in the Odesa, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, Kirovograd, Kyiv, Poltava and Chernigov regions, it said, adding that one drone is still in Ukrainian airspace, while two returned to Russia and Belarus.

Russia also launched two guided missiles and two cruise missiles, which missed their targets, the military said.