Ukraine Slams 'fake Elections' As Russia Launches Deadly Strikes

Ukraine denounced what it called "fake elections" being held by Moscow on its occupied territory Friday, while Russian air strikes across the country killed four people and wounded dozens more

Kyiv, Ukraine, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 8th Sep, 2023 ):Ukraine denounced what it called "fake elections" being held by Moscow on its occupied territory Friday, while Russian air strikes across the country killed four people and wounded dozens more.

Russia said voting for local officials was open in the four Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson -- none of which Moscow fully controls -- as well as in Crimea.

"Russia's pseudo-elections in the temporarily occupied territories are worthless," Ukraine's foreign ministry said in a statement, accusing Moscow of "grossly violating" its sovereignty.

The votes came as Russia continued to pound Ukrainian cities in the centre and east of the country with air strikes, as Kyiv officials posted images of the destruction on social media.

"A Russian aerial bomb killed three civilians in Odradokamyanka -- two women and a man.

Four local residents were injured," Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said, calling the attack a "war crime".

Odradokamyanka is about 60 kilometres (40 miles) upstream of Kherson city, on the west bank of the Dnipro river, which was recaptured by Ukraine's forces last year.

A Russian strike on President Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rig killed a policeman, Klymenko said, after a police building in the city centre was hit.

Photos from the scene showed smoke spewing from the ruins of the building as rescue workers carried an injured person to an ambulance.

"Rescuers of the State Emergency Service pulled out three more from under the rubble. They are in serious condition," he said.

Russia also struck the city of Sumy in northeast Ukraine, officials said, while one man was injured by a rocket attack on Zaporizhzhia in the southeast.