The wave of drone, missile and air strikes on Ukrainian cities took place in the early hours of Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Russia ramped up its attacks while preparing for its annual May 9 Victory Day holiday celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, the Reuters news agency reported.
A total of 16 missile strikes targeted cities in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region as well as the southern provinces of Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa, and Zaporizhzhia in the south east, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Monday morning.
Russia also conducted 61 air strikes and 52 rocket salvos on Ukrainian positions and populated areas, according to officials.
Ukraine said it had destroyed all 35 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia in the barrage of attacks across Ukraine early on Monday, the PAP news agency reported.
Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least five people were injured in the capital and there was damage to a fuel depot, cars, buildings and infrastructure, according to Reuters.
Two of those wounded suffered injuries when drone wreckage fell on a two-storey building in the city’s west, while drone debris also fell on the runway at the city’s Zhuliany Airport, Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported.
"Unfortunately, there are dead and wounded civilians, high-rise buildings, private homes and other civilian infrastructure were damaged," Ukraine’s General Staff said.
A food warehouse and a recreation area were set ablaze in the Black Sea city of Odesa, according to local officials.
About eight KH-22 cruise missiles were fired by Russia at Odesa overnight, Ukraine’s air force said.
It earlier reported that Russian forces had attacked Odesa using Tu-22 M3 long-range bombers from the Cape Tarkhankut in Russian-occupied Crimea, according to Ukraine’s Interfax news agency.
“The probability of further Russian missile and air strikes across Ukraine remains high,” Ukraine’s General Staff warned.
The fresh wave of Russian strikes came as Moscow prepared for Tuesday's Victory Day parade, a key event for President Vladimir Putin who has evoked the spirit of the Soviet triumph over Nazi Germany, having portrayed Ukraine as being in the grip of a new kind of fascism, according to Reuters.
Ukraine and its allies say the accusation was a baseless pretext for Russia's unprovoked invasion in February last year, which sparked the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II, killing thousands and forcing millions to flee the country, Reuters reported.
Russia has also stepped up shelling of Ukraine’s key eastern city of Bakhmut, hoping to take it by Tuesday, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported.
Monday is day 439 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters, Interfax-Ukraine, The Guardian, RFERL
