Four dead and several injured after massive Russian strikes across Ukraine

At least four people have been killed and several have been injured in Ukraine after Russia launched a major overnight attack.

The four dead were in Dnipro and included a 73-year-old woman. Five were injured in Dnipro while eight were injured in Kharkiv and four in Kyiv following Russian strikes, local officials said in the early hours of Tuesday.

Thousands of people took shelter in Kyiv as large plumes of smoke rose from the city’s centre following missile strikes.

“Explosions in the city. Air defence forces are working! Stay in shelters!” said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko. The head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said “the enemy is striking with ballistic missiles”.

Klitschko said two high-rise apartment buildings had been hit and there are fears people are trapped under rubble.

As the Russian attacks hit Kyiv through the early morning dark, the buzz of drones could be heard between more than a dozen loud explosions as strikes made impact.

Blackouts and fires have also been reported across the city and the wider extent of damage is not yet clear.

An industrial facility has also been attacked in Zaporizhzhia.

The attacks come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday reiterated warnings of a possible massive Russian strike and urged residents to pay special attention to air raid alerts.

“Intelligence warnings regarding Russian strikes remain in effect. A massive strike is possible, they have prepared one,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

Last week Russia said it would target military and decision-making centres in Kyiv, and urged foreigners to leave the city.

It said it would launch “systematic strikes” in response to a drone strike last month on a dormitory in Ukraine’s Russian-held Luhansk region which killed 21 people.

In a statement the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said it did carry out an attack near Starobilsk on the night of 21-22 May but maintains that it struck a Russian military unit.

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