At least six people were injured in a Russian strike on a nine-storey block of flats in Kharkiv.

According to the mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, emergency crews rushed to rescue residents in the early hours of Monday. Among the victims was a 16-year-old girl, three apartments on the upper floors were destroyed.

In the port city of Kherson, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on the Telegram messaging app that an elderly man was killed after a drone dropped explosives on him, and another man was killed by artillery fire.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that its air defense units shot down 21 Ukrainian drones overnight, which targeted several regions, including Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh and Kursk.

In the Voronezh region, a drone attack led to a fire at an industrial facility, injuring one person, Governor Alexander Gusev said. Emergency services were deployed to deal with the fire.

In addition, two explosions were reported near an ethanol plant in the village of Krasnoye, according to the Baza news channel, which is close to Russia’s security services. Euronews could not independently confirm these claims.

Global voting war

After Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Bulgaria, former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov’s center-right GERB party emerged victorious, with exit poll results showing this first.

Bulgaria’s main pro-Russian party, Vazrazhdane, which polls predicted would become the second largest group in the legislature, received a weaker result. The far-right ultra-nationalist party called on Sofia to lift sanctions against Russia, stop aid to Ukraine and hold a referendum on its NATO membership.

So far, the group has been isolated in parliament, with no new signs of future partnerships. However, if the main parties in the legislature fail to resolve the impasse, the appeal of Vazrazhdane and other similar groups could grow, potentially changing Bulgaria’s pro-Western stance.

Lithuania’s newly elected Social Democratic Party announced Monday that its government plans to spend at least 3.5 percent of its gross domestic product on defense.

The vote in Lithuania, which borders Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave to the west and Belarus to the east, comes amid heightened fears about Moscow’s intentions, particularly in the strategically important Baltic region.

Related

Meanwhile, in the US, Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance said Moscow was an adversary of the US, but suggested that treating the Kremlin as an enemy was counterproductive.

Vance made the comments during appearances on the Sunday talk shows, which aired nine days before Election Day. He also said the Trump administration is committed to NATO, the transatlantic military alliance seen as a bulwark against future Russian aggression in Europe.

“We’re not at war with him, and I don’t want to be at war with Vladimir Putin’s Russia,” Vance said when pressed during an NBC interview about whether Moscow is an enemy.