The strikes were carried out in the early hours of Thursday morning, The Kyiv Independent website reported.
In Kyiv, two people were taken to a hospital following the Russian missile attack, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on the Telegram social messaging app.
Five more civilians were reported injured in the city’s Darnytskyi district after missile debris caused a fire at a gas station and broke windows in a nearby building, according to officials.
Explosions were also heard in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district and first responders were also sent to the Sviatoshynskyi and Shevchenkivskyi districts, according to The Kyiv Independent.
In all, Ukraine’s air defences intercepted “20 enemy targets” over Kyiv and its suburbs on Thursday morning, the capital’s military administration said.
Russia also targeted the central city of Cherkasy, injuring five people, regional Governor Ihor Taburets said on Telegram.
As a result of the air defence operation, missile debris fell in downtown Cherkasy and a “social infrastructure site” was damaged in the attack, according to officials.
Five people were injured, and as of 7 a.m. CET, at least one more person remained under the rubble, The Kyiv Independent reported.
Explosions were also reported in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and the northwestern city of Rivne, according to officials.
Earlier, Ukraine’s air force warned that Russia had fired cruise missiles in the direction of the Kyiv region and other provinces, and an air alert was activated across the country.
Ukrainian forces 'inflicting losses on enemy': officials
Ukrainian forces were continuing their counteroffensive against Russia to the south of the city of Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk region, state news agency Ukrinform reported on Thursday morning.
Ukrainian troops were “inflicting losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment, and entrenching themselves on the achieved lines,” Ukraine’s General Staff said on Thursday.
The Ukrainian military command added: “In the area of responsibility of the Khortytsia operational-strategic group in the Bakhmut sector, Ukraine's defense forces successfully repelled enemy attacks west of Zaitseve, Donetsk region. The enemy unsuccessfully tried to regain ground northeast and east of Andriivka, Donetsk region.”
Ukrainian forces were also continuing their push through the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, towards the port of Melitopol on the Sea of Azov, Ukrinform reported.
Ukrainian troops were “inflicting significant losses in manpower and equipment on the occupying troops, and forcing the enemy to withdraw from their positions,” the General Staff in Kyiv said.
“Ukrainian defenders repelled enemy attacks near Robotyne,” officials also said, adding that “the occupiers have significant losses in both personnel and equipment.”
Meanwhile in the southern Kherson region, Ukrainian forces were "conducting counter-battery operations, destroying supply depots and inflicting successful damage on the enemy's rear,” according to Ukraine’s General Staff.
Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian warplanes have launched 10 strikes on concentrations of Russian personnel, weapons and military equipment and five strikes on Russian anti-aircraft missile systems, the Ukrinform news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian rocket forces hit a concentration of Russian personnel, weapons and military equipment, 11 artillery pieces, a Strela-10 anti-aircraft missile system and an electronic-warfare station, the General Staff in Kyiv said on Thursday morning.
Ukraine is seeking to encircle and recapture Bakhmut in the east, while also pushing through Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, in a bid to reach Melitopol on the Sea of Azov, splitting Russian forces, according to news outlets.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Thursday is day 575 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, The Kyiv Independent, Ukrinform