News Wrap: Russian strikes on southern Ukraine kill at least 4

## Summary
In our news wrap Monday, a new round of Russian strikes killed at least four people in southern Ukraine, a combination of storms, floods and landslides has claimed at least 110 lives in Afghanistan and "Today" host Savannah Guthrie returned to the anchor desk for the first time since her mother's disappearance more than two months ago. Geoff Bennett: In the day's other headlines: A new round of Russian strikes has killed at least four people in Southern Ukraine. Geoff Bennett: Ukraine's military responded by targeting Russian oil infrastructure. Here at home, "Today Show" host Savannah Guthrie returned to the anchor desk this morning for the first time since her mother's disappearance more than two months ago.

## Article Content
In our news wrap Monday, a new round of Russian strikes killed at least four people in southern Ukraine, a combination of storms, floods and landslides has claimed at least 110 lives in Afghanistan and "Today" host Savannah Guthrie returned to the anchor desk for the first time since her mother's disappearance more than two months ago.

Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

Geoff Bennett:

In the day's other headlines: A new round of Russian strikes has killed at least four people in Southern Ukraine.

In the Black Sea port of Odesa, emergency responders dug through the rubble of a damaged apartment building to rescue trapped residents, including young children. Ukrainian authorities said other Russian attacks across the country took aim at the power grid, leaving hundreds of thousands of households without electricity.

One Odesa resident called Russia's attacks on civilians acts of evil.

Andrii Palchuk, Archdeacon, Orthodox Church (through interpreter):

After Easter, which Catholics celebrated yesterday, Russia continues to commit these acts and cannot get enough of human blood. No decent person, especially a religious person, could possibly support or justify this.

Geoff Bennett:

Ukraine's military responded by targeting Russian oil infrastructure. Moscow says Ukrainian drones hit a major Black Sea oil terminal, igniting fires across rigs, pipelines and storage tanks. Russian officials also report strikes in residential areas, with eight people injured, including two children.

Separately, a senior Russian air force commander died when a military transport aircraft crashed in occupied Crimea last week. Alexander Otroshchenko was among 30 people killed. Russia's Ministry of Defense said a technical malfunction was the preliminary cause of the crash.

In Afghanistan, a deadly combination of storms, floods and landslides has claimed at least 110 lives in recent weeks. A magnitude-5.8 earthquake also struck Afghanistan on Friday, compounding the devastation from nearly two weeks of relentless rain. Officials say hundreds of homes have been destroyed, thousands more damaged, and major roads washed out or blocked by the landslides.

Shakir Ahmad, Afghan Flood Survivor (through interpreter):

My entire house collapsed. As you can see, everything is buried under the mud, and we haven't been able to take any of our important belongings.

Geoff Bennett:

Extreme weather warnings remain in place nationwide through tomorrow.

Here at home, "Today Show" host Savannah Guthrie returned to the anchor desk this morning for the first time since her mother's disappearance more than two months ago.

Savannah Guthrie:

And it is good to be home.

Craig Melvin:

Yes, it is good to have you back at home.

Savannah Guthrie:

Well, here we go, ready or not. Let's do the news.

Craig Melvin:

Yes. Yes, so good to have you back. All right.

Geoff Bennett:

Guthrie later fought back tears while thanking viewers gathered outside the show's Rockefeller Center studio.

Her 84-year-old mother, Nancy, is still missing. Authorities believe she was abducted from her home outside Tucson, Arizona. Investigators have not identified a suspect or motive, nor have they released any new evidence in weeks.

The UCLA Bruins celebrated program history today after routing the South Carolina Gamecocks 79-51 to win the school's first-ever women's basketball title last night. It capped off a dominant season in which their only loss came back at Thanksgiving. The team returned to campus trophy in hand surrounded by screaming fans. A larger campus celebration is set for Wednesday.

Meantime, the men's NCAA Championship tips off tonight, pitting a mighty Michigan offense against an unlikely underdog in the University of Connecticut. UConn is chasing its third title in just four years.

And stocks made modest gains today as the war with Iran weighs on the markets. The Dow Jones industrial average added 165 points, recouping the losses it suffered late last week. The Nasdaq gained a little more than a half-percent. The S&P 500 finished positively for its fourth straight trading day.

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- As you can see, everything is buried under the mud, and we haven't been able to take any of our important belongings.

### Areas for Consideration
N/A

### Implications
- They may contain errors.
- No decent person, especially a religious person, could possibly support or justify this.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers russian, guthrie, least topics. Notable strengths include discussion of russian. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 648.