Pavlohrad [Ukraine], May 2: Russia unleashed a fresh volley of missiles on Ukraine overnight, setting off huge blazes in a city in the east, damaging dozens of homes and causing widespread casualties.
The Ukrainian military's General Staff said in its evening report that a number of people had been killed in the attacks on Monday night, including children, but gave no further details. Officials said at least 34 people were hurt.
The attack on Pavlohrad, a city and railway hub, came during the second wave of nationwide missile strikes in three days, with Moscow apparently reviving its winter tactic of long-range strikes ahead of a planned Ukrainian counteroffensive.
A huge crater had been blasted in the backyard of a house that was strewn with debris on the outskirts of Pavlohrad in southeastern Ukraine, around 100 kilometres from the front line. Homes nearby were badly damaged. In the city centre, the windows of a dormitory that serves a chemical plant had been blown out.
ViktoriiaSuprun, 41, said she had taken cover with her daughter in the hallway of the dormitory.
MykolaLukashuk, head of the Dnipropetrovsk region council, said the attack had damaged 19 apartment blocks, 25 houses, three schools, three kindergartens and several shops. The 34 wounded included five children, the region's governor said.
The Ukrainian general staff report noted civilians dead and wounded, with children among the casualties. It said apartment buildings had been damaged along with schools, hospitals and kindergartens.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation