At least 11 people were killed and 22 wounded after Russian missile strikes in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, Ukrainian authorities said Saturday.
Crews also searched for four more people thought to be trapped under the rubble of an apartment building after Friday's missile strikes, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Donetsk region.
Meanwhile, a 48-year-old woman and her 28-year-old daughter were killed Saturday after Russian forces shelled a neighborhood in southern Ukraine's Kherson, the city's regional administration said. Kherson was once occupied by Russian forces early in the war but was regained by Ukrainian forces in November, marking a significant battlefield victory for Ukraine.
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Latest developments:
►Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a new law that allows the military to send draft notices electronically instead of delivering them in person, the United Kingdom Defense Ministry said Saturday. About 52,000 Russian men have received draft orders as part of Russia's regular spring call-up.
►Finland on Friday broke ground on the construction of a barbed-wire fence along its border with Russia. Border officials have previously acknowledged that Russia's invasion of Ukraine helped prompt the border fence's construction.
Ukraine's air force prepares for additional weapons from US
Ukraine's air force said it expects to soon have additional weapons, including a Patriot air defense system promised by the U.S., that would help prevent attacks like Friday's in Sloviansk, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told reporters Saturday.
A group of 65 Ukrainian soldiers were trained last month at a U.S. Army post in Oklahoma and were expected to return to Ukraine with a Patriot missile battery, which typically includes six mobile launchers, a mobile radar, a power generator and an engagement control center.
The weapons may prove especially helpful as Ukraine prepare for an expected spring counteroffensive from Russian forces, Ukrainian officials have said.
OPINION:USA TODAY stands with Evan Gershkovich
US journalist arrested in Russia tells family he's 'not losing hope'
Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal correspondent based in Moscow, told his family he is "not losing hope" in a hand-written letter, the newspaper said Friday. Gershkovich also said he continues to read, exercise and write during his detention.
He was arrested in March while reporting in the western Russian city of Yekaterinburg and charged with espionage. The Wall Street Journal has repeatedly denied that Gershkovich is a spy, and the U.S. State Department has called him "wrongfully detained."
Contributing: The Associated Press
Contact Christine Fernando at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.
