Eight killed in Russian strikes, as Ukraine downs bomber

Russian strikes against Ukraine on April 19 killed at least eight people, including two children.

Russian strikes against Ukraine on April 19 killed at least eight people, including two children, as Kyiv said it shot down a Russian strategic bomber for the first time.

Moscow said a military plane had crashed in Russian territory while returning to base from a combat mission after suffering a technical malfunction.

The downing of a Russian bomber used to fire cruise missiles would be a highly symbolic win for Ukraine, which has been pounded by hundreds of Russian aerial strikes since Moscow invaded more than two years ago.

The latest overnight Russian strikes on the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region killed left more death and destruction, officials said.

"A horrific Russian air strike on the Dnipropetrovsk region this morning. Two children are among those killed. A 14-year-old girl and a 8-year-old boy," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The head of the region Sergiy Lysak said medics had been able to save a six-year-old boy previously reported killed, revising down an earlier toll of nine dead. Twelve people were reported injured.

The strikes — which hit the region's Synelnykivsky area and the regional capital of Dnipro — triggered fresh outrage in Kyiv.