Russian missiles strike Ukraine cities and towns, killing multiple people

On Tuesday, Russian missiles struck cities and towns across the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, causing multiple casualties and injuries.

Russian attacks in Kherson

The attacks on Tuesday in the southern region of Kherson included “more than 400 shells fired from tanks and artillery while also dropping explosives from drones,” The New York Times reported.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian military said the attacks from the Kremlin in Kherson were “solely to terrorize and demonstrate military presence,” Dmytro Pletenchuk said, per the Times.

Russian missiles fire into Donetsk region

Meanwhile, in the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region, a Russian strike hit mostly residential areas on Tuesday, killing at least one person, injuring at least two others and damaging 25 multiple-story buildings in the area, according to CNN.

“Kramatorsk. A Russian missile hit the city center,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post, per CNBC. “Six high-rise buildings were damaged. At least three people were injured. One person died. My condolences to the family! Rescue operations are still ongoing.”

Ukraine orders evacuations from Kupyansk as Russian forces close in

Around 2,500 residents remain in the city located in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region. Russian forces are closing in on the once liberated city in September 2022. Russian shelling has destroyed many resident’s homes, stores, schools and other buildings.

Police forces and volunteers are trying to help as many people evacuate as possible, but some are not ready to abandon their homes, CNN reported Tuesday.

“As shelling has intensified, more people have been registering. But then the internet was cut for two days so they couldn’t get in touch,” Dmytro Kovalov, one of the volunteers, told CNN. “That’s why we started just blindly visiting addresses, knocking on doors. But some people refuse to go. They don’t want to leave their houses behind, and they hope that the Russians will be pushed back.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says supporting Ukraine is not a priority

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday night that the U.S. should discontinue providing aid and funding to Ukraine to protect itself from Russian invasion, calling it a “territorial dispute,” The Washington Post reported.

“While the U.S. has many vital national interests — securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness with our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural and military power of the Chinese Communist Party — becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them,” DeSantis said, per the Post.

The Republican governor and darling of the Republican party made the statement in response to a question segment on Tucker Carlson’s show on Fox News, which asked potential and announced 2024 presidential candidates about their thoughts on U.S. involvement with the war.

Former President Donald Trump also declared supporting Ukraine in its opposition to Russian rule and invasion was not of vital interest and argued that Europe should shoulder more of the burden to provide funding and aid to Ukraine, per a tweet from Tucker Carlson’s account.