Kiev said Ukraine shot down a Russian strategic bomber on Friday local time after the warplane carried out a long-range air strike in the central region of Dnipropetrovsk that killed eight people, including two children.

In the early morning, missiles rained down on the city of Dnipro and surrounding areas, destroying residential buildings and the main train station.

Three people died in the Dnipropetrovsk region, including a man whose body was pulled from the rubble of a five-story building, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said, while nearby Dnipropetrovsk region Five others were killed.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said a 14-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy were among the dead.

Russia has stepped up long-range air attacks on Ukraine’s energy systems and other targets in recent weeks, increasing pressure on the rear of Kiev’s front lines as Russian forces have been slowly advancing in the east.

Russia denies targeting civilians and says energy systems are legitimate targets, but hundreds of civilians have been killed during airstrikes.

Kiev’s top military spy said Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber more than 300 kilometers away after firing missiles in an overnight attack, a wartime first for Ukraine.

“I can only say that the plane was hit at a distance of 308 kilometers,” Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Service (GUR), told BBC-Ukraine. Quite remote.” The agency posted part of the interview on the Telegram messaging app.

He said they shot down the fighter jet in the same way Kiev shot down a Russian A-50 early warning and control aircraft earlier this year.

An intelligence source told Reuters the plane was hit by a modified S-200, a Soviet-era long-range surface-to-air missile system.

Unconfirmed social media videos showed a fighter jet with its tail on fire spiraling towards the ground.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that a bomber crashed in the Stavropol region of southern Russia hundreds of kilometers away from Ukrainian-controlled territory while returning to base from a combat mission.

But it said the crash appeared to be caused by a technical fault.

The Russian governor said that of the four Russian air force crew members who ejected from the fighter plane, two were rescued, one died, and rescue operations for the fourth were underway.

Zelensky says a decision needs to be made now

Civilians inside a five-story residential building in Dnipro said they were shocked. The top floor of the building was partially destroyed and firefighters struggled to put out the blaze in the early hours.

“My wife and daughter were shocked. They said they would not come back to the apartment and asked me to evacuate them somewhere because they could not stay here anymore,” said resident Sirsi.

President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the site of the attack and called on Ukraine’s allies to urgently provide air defense supplies as a slowdown in vital Western military aid caused Ukraine’s stockpiles to dwindle.

The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 15 incoming missiles during the night, including two Kh-22 cruise missiles and 14 drones.

Governor Lisak said the air defense system shot down 11 out of 16 missiles and 9 out of 10 drones targeting the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Zelensky said more Russian missiles struck the Black Sea port of Pivdenny in the southern region of Odessa on Friday afternoon, destroying grain storage facilities and the food contained within them.

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