Russia bombarded Ukrainian towns and cities overnight Saturday into Sunday, Ukrainian officials said. Regions that were attacked with missiles, artillery and drones included Kharkiv in the northeast to Odesa in the southwest, according to the officials. At least five Russian missiles hit Kharkiv and surrounding districts late on Saturday and damaged civilian buildings.
Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram that one missile hit a house in the village of Kotliary near Kharkiv. Another missile sparked a major fire. Other reports suggested that two houses were badly damaged in Kotliary.
All the windows got broken: two on this side and two on the other. The roof got partially destroyed,” Liubov Holoshchapova, a local resident told Reuters.The child is very scared – we barely took it out of the bathroom. Thank God everyone is alive, honestly,” Nataliia Plotka, a local resident, said.
According to the Ukrainian military’s southern command, Russia aimed self-detonating drones at Odesa’s air defences. No casualties were reported.
Meanwhile, over 70 artillery attacks were reported from Zaporizhzhia where at least one man was hurt and 10 houses were destroyed, according to Yurii Malashko, head of the region’s military administration.
Another Russian attack destroyed a nine-story building in Vuhledar in the eastern Donetsk region, according to the regional leader Pavlo Kyrylenko.
Further, in the battle for Bakhmut, Russia’s defence ministry said on Sunday that its forces had captured more territory in the city. The battle for Bakhmut has turned into one of the bloodiest of the 14-month war. It added that its troops secured two more blocks in Bakhmut’s western districts.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the private Wagner military force, had earlier claimed that his troops control 80 per cent of Bakhmut. Kyiv has repeatedly denied claims that its forces are poised to withdraw.