Five die in Dnipro as Ukraine is hit by fresh Russian missile attacks
The capital Kyiv was also hit in the latest wave of rocket attacks.
Five people were killed and more than 20 wounded in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro after a Russian missile strike destroyed a section of an apartment building, it has been confirmed.
The attack was one of a wave of missile attacks which also rocked Kyiv – the first attack on Ukraine’s capital since January 1.
On Saturday, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office said on Telegram that critical infrastructure had been targeted in the capital.
Air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine in the anticipation of further attacks, and regional officials urged local residents not to ignore alarms and seek shelter.
Air defence systems were activated on Saturday afternoon in the southern Mykolaiv region, governor Vitali Kim said on Telegram, before hinting that some missiles have already been intercepted.
Ukraine’s Operational Command South reported that five Russian missile carriers were spotted in the Black Sea on Saturday afternoon, capable of launching a total of 36 Kalibr cruise missiles.
In the morning, a series of explosions rocked Kyiv. Explosions were heard in the Dniprovskyi district, a residential area on the left bank of the Dnieper River, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
Mr Klitschko also said that fragments of a missile fell on a non-residential area in the Holosiivskyi district on the right bank, and a fire briefly broke out in a building there. No casualties have been reported so far.
It was not immediately clear whether several facilities in Kyiv were targeted or just the one that was reported hit. The Ukrainian capital has not been attacked by missiles since New Year’s Day.
In the outlying Kyiv region, a residential building in the village of Kopyliv was hit, and windows of the houses nearby were blown out, officials said.
A total of 18 private houses were damaged in the region, according to regional governor Oleksii Kuleba.
“There are damaged roofs and windows,” but no casualties, Mr Kuleba said in a Telegram post. He added that a fire has been contained at a “critical infrastructure facility” in the region.
Earlier on Saturday, two Russian missiles hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, the governor of the region reported.
Oleh Syniehubov said Russian forces fired two S-300 missiles at the industrial district of Kharkiv.
The strikes targeted “energy and industrial objects of Kharkiv and the (outlying) region,” Mr Syniehubov said.
No casualties have been reported, but emergency power cuts in the city and other settlements of the region were possible, the official said.
The attacks follow conflicting reports on the fate of the fiercely contested salt mining town of Soledar, in Ukraine’s embattled east.
Russia claims that its forces have captured the town, a development that would mark a rare victory for the Kremlin after a series of humiliating setbacks on the battlefield.
However, Ukrainian authorities and Mr Zelensky insist the fight for Soledar continues.
Moscow has painted the battle for the town and the nearby city of Bakhmut as key to capturing the eastern region of the Donbas, which comprises of partially occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and as a way to grind down the best Ukrainian forces and prevent them from launching counterattacks elsewhere.
But that cuts both ways, as Ukraine says its fierce defence of the eastern strongholds has helped tie up Russian forces.
Western officials and analysts say the two towns’ importance is more symbolic than strategic.
