MOSCOW: Kyiv and Moscow traded blame for a strike on a school in a Ukrainian-occupied town in Russia's Kursk region, while Kyiv said new missile and drone attacks killed at least 18 people in Ukraine.

Fighting in the nearly three-year war has shown no signs of easing despite US President Donald Trump's promise to quickly reach a ceasefire after he took office on January 20.

The Ukrainian Air Force said four people were killed in a Russian attack with a guided aerial bomb Saturday on a former school building sheltering civilians in the town of Sudzha.

It said four others were seriously wounded and 80 people were rescued from the rubble.

"Hitting civilians with bombs is a signature style of Russian criminals! Even when the civilians are local residents, Russians," it said.

Russia did not give a toll, but accused Kyiv of targeting the school in a "crime that has no forgiveness and no statute of limitations".

Russian investigators announced they had opened a criminal case against a Ukrainian commander who they said was behind the attack.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia "Devoid of civility", sharing a video on social media showing a heavily damaged building, as well as a wounded man lying on the ground.

Published in The Daily National Courier, February, 03 2025

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