
Russia has launched a wave of air strikes against cities across Ukraine, including Kyiv, leaving at least 13 people dead.
Officials said eleven people, including a child, died, in an incident that targeted a residential building in Uman’s centre city.
According to the mayor of the area, a mother and her three-year-old kid were also killed in Dnipro.
Additionally, reports of explosions came from the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the apartment block was among 10 residential buildings that were damaged in Uman. The state rescue service said the child killed in the city was born in 2013. They added that 11 other people needed hospital treatment.
Mr. Zelensky said the attacks showed further international action needed to be taken against Russia.
“Evil can be stopped by weapons – our defenders are doing it. And it can be stopped by sanctions – global sanctions must be enhanced,” he said in a tweet.
The head of the cities’ military administration said it was the first Russian missile attack in Kyiv in 51 days.
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There are no immediate reports of civilian casualties in the capital.
Twenty-one out of 23 missiles and two attack drones were shot down by Ukraine’s air defence system, officials said in a post on the messaging service Telegram.
A video posted on Telegram by Ukraine’s State Border Service showed a badly damaged apartment building in Uman after the strikes.
The attacks come as Ukrainian forces say they are ready to launch an offensive with new Western-supplied equipment, including tanks.
Russia has struggled to make headway in a winter offensive including a 10-month battle for control of the strategically important city of Bakhmut.
It was not immediately clear what Russia was targeting in Friday’s attacks, but it has previously attacked civilian infrastructure.
Moscow has previously said it does not deliberately target civilians. However, thousands have been injured and killed across Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.