Ukraine hit by new Russian missile barrage
A fresh barrage of Russian strikes battered Ukraine on Thursday, wounding at least three people in Kyiv and cutting electricity in the west. On Thursday morning, blasts were reported across the country, including in the Ukrainian capital, the second city Kharkiv in the east, and the western city of Lviv on the border with Poland. Most of Lviv, where Russian strikes are still rare, was left without electricity, its mayor Andriy Sadoviy said. "The enemy is attacking Ukraine from various directions with air and sea-based cruise missiles from strategic aircraft and ships," Ukraine's air force said on social media. The attacks came 10 months into Moscow's offensive in Ukraine where Russian strikes have been battering the country's energy grid, leaving millions in the cold and dark in the middle of winter. Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said that at least three people were in wounded in the strikes, including a 14-year-old girl. He warned of potential power cuts and called on residents to stock up on water. Two private houses were hit by fragments of downed missiles in the east of the capital while an industrial enterprise and a playground were damaged in the city's southwest, local officials said. In the east, a "series of explosions" hit Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, mayor Igor Terekhov said. Governor Oleg Synegubov said "critical infrastructure" was targeted in the region of Kharkiv and its main city where four missiles hit eastern and southern neighbourhoods. In the south, Odessa governor Maksym Marchenko said air defence shot down 21 missiles over the region. "Fragments of one of the enemy missiles fell onto a residential building, fortunately there were no casualties," he said, adding there was damage to energy infrastructure and emergency power cuts were enforced in the region. Moscow has said the strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure are a response to an explosion on the Kerch Bridge connecting the Russian mainland to the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014. (AFP)