Russian strikes hit the Ukrainian capital and other cities on Tuesday, local officials said, killing at least seven people and damaging energy infrastructure as Moscow's war approaches its third year.
In the eastern city of Kharkiv, the death toll rose to six after rescuers found body of a 21-year-old woman under the rubble, Governor Oleh Synehubov said, adding that more than 100 high-rise blocks in the city had been damaged.
Police said 57 people were injured. Rescue workers continued working at the site.
In Kyiv, where the blasts of air defense pierced the morning calm, emergency services said 22 people, including four children, had been wounded across at least three districts.
At one site, rescuers tended to dazed and groaning victims as workers swept away debris and broken glass.
"There was a very loud bang, and my mother was already running outside, shouting that we need to leave. We all went to the corridor," said Daniel Boliukh, 21. "Then, we went on the balcony to have a look, and saw all these buildings were on fire."
Emergency services said apartment buildings, medical and educational institutions were damaged in Kyiv. Some of the damage occurred next to the United Nations office, resident coordinator Denise Brown said in a statement.
When asked to comment on the strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv, the Kremlin said that Russian military does not target civilians when it hits objects in Ukraine.
Tuesday's strikes also killed one person in the southeastern city of Pavlohrad, the regional governor said. The attacks damaged a gas pipeline in Kharkiv and thousands of residents were left without power after electricity infrastructure was hit, according to energy authorities.
Russia has carried out regular air strikes on cities and civilian infrastructure far behind the front lines since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Its troops, meanwhile, are attacking in several parts along the sprawling eastern front and seeking to seize the initiative, Ukraine's military says.
Shot down
Ukraine's air force said the military had destroyed 21 out of 41 missiles of various types fired by Russia. Nearly 20 had been shot down over Kyiv, said a spokesman for the city military administration.
A Ukrainian general, Serhiy Naiev, posted a video which he said depicted air defense forces shooting down a Russian missile with a machinegun.
Russian forces have increasingly employed a mix of air- and land-based missiles that are more difficult to shoot down. Kyiv has called for more advanced air defense systems from Western partners as it struggles to defend itself.
Moscow accused Kyiv on Sunday of shelling the Russian-occupied eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, killing 27 people. Ukrainian forces said Russia bore responsibility for the attack.
Ukrainian officials in the northern region of Sumy said critical infrastructure had been damaged by a missile strike on the city of Shostka on Tuesday.
"The world must understand that this terror can only be stopped by force," the head of Ukraine's presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Telegram.
The Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday it had struck enterprises producing missiles, explosives and ammunition.
