Russian drones attack southern Ukraine, Russia’s Kursk region hit with drones and cluster munitions, private clinics in Russia ordered to share info with draft offices

It is day 589 of the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian Armed Forces reported an attack by Russian drones in the south and south-east of Ukraine. The authorities of Russia’s Kursk region said it had been attacked by Ukraine’s drones and cluster munitions overnight. Private medical clinics in Russia have been ordered to start sharing patient information with draft offices.

Novaya-Europe’s news roundup will brief you on the main developments overnight.

Russia attacks Ukraine with Shahed drones

The Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Thursday that Russian drones had attacked the south and south-east of Ukraine, with air-raid sirens sounding in the Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipro, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions of the country.

Furthermore, explosions have been reported in the Kropyvnytskyi and Poltava regions of Ukraine.

According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russian forces attacked Ukraine overnight using 29 Shahed-136/131 drones, 24 of which were destroyed by Ukraine’s air defence systems. “Unfortunately, civilians were killed and injured in Russian terror attacks,” the statement said.

Ukrainian drones attack Russia’s Kursk

Ukrainian drones attacked infrastructure facilities in the city of Kursk overnight, the governor of the Kursk region Roman Starovoyt said on Thursday, adding that blackouts were reported in the region.

“Repair crews have already begun fixing the power supply,” he noted.

Ukraine also shelled a town in the Kursk region, Rylsk, with cluster munitions, Starovoyt later said. A woman sustained shrapnel wounds and was hospitalised.

According to Starovoyt, several buildings and cars were damaged in the attack on Rylsk, while unexploded munitions were later discovered in the town. Deminers are currently at the scene.

Private clinics set to share client information with draft offices

Private medical clinics in Russia will now be required to share patient information with draft offices, the head of the State Duma Defence Committee Andrey Kartapolov said on Wednesday.

The incoming information will be used to compile a nationwide conscript register. The collected data will include personal information, passport details, place of residence, information about one’s place of employment, education, as well as “other information determined by the Russian government in accordance with the presidential decree”, Kartapolov noted, adding that the Federal Tax Service, Health Ministry, Interior Ministry, as well as employers would have to share this information with draft offices, too.

According to Kartapolov, the register was created with conscripts in mind, so they wouldn’t have “to wonder whether it’s time to go to a draft office or not, or what documents to take with them”. It won’t become fully operational until 2025.