Heavy Wave of Russian Missile Attacks Hit Areas Throughout Ukraine 

A general view shows a shopping mall heavily damaged by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine December 29, 2023. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk region/Handout via Reuters)

Ukraine came under strong Russian missile attacks early Monday that struck near the front lines of fighting in the east as well as in central and western parts of the country, killing one person and injuring at least 30.

The heaviest casualty toll was in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where a woman died in a missile attack outside the city of Kryvyi Rih and 24 were injured in a strike on the town of Novomoskovsk. In Kryvyi Rih itself, more than 20 houses and a shopping center were damaged in a missile attack, said regional governor Serhii Lysak.

At least four missiles hit Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, injuring one person, said mayor Ihor Terekhov. Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov also said two people were injured and two more were trapped under rubble after a strike on the village of Zmiiv.

In Zaporizhzhia, a major city along the Dnipro River, two people were injured in a missile strike on a residential district, said regional governor Yurii Malashko.

Over the past 24 hours, Russian troops conducted 131 artillery attacks on the Kherson region, killing two people and injuring five, according to governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

Kherson city and the surrounding region have been consistently targeted since Russian forces withdrew from the city to the eastern side of the Dnipro in the autumn of 2022.

At least six explosions shook the central Khmelnytskyi region on Monday morning, but there were no immediate details on casualties or damage.

The Ukrainian military said Monday that Russian forces made unsuccessful efforts to advance during the past day in several areas, including around Lyman in the Kharkiv region and in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Authorities of the Khmelnytskyi region said at least six explosions were heard during the morning missile attack, but no casualties or damage was immediately reported.

Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko says a man who was injured in a missile attack on Jan. 2 died in a Kyiv hospital Monday. Another man injured in the same attack died in Kharkiv on Monday, Syniehubov said.