Russian strikes kill eight across Ukraine, officials say

At least eight people have been killed and more than 30 injured across Ukraine in overnight Russian drone and missile attacks, regional officials have said.

Four deaths were reported in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region. Three more deaths were reported in the Kyiv region, and one in the southern city of Mykolaiv.

It comes a day after Kyiv suffered one of the heaviest assaults since the start of the Russian invasion.

Russia’s defence ministry said its air defence units shot down or intercepted 95 Ukrainian drones over a number of Russian regions, including Moscow, during a four-hour period on Saturday night.

Russian officials did not report any casualties. The drone attack forced a brief suspension of all flights at Moscow’s airports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.

This includes Crimea – Ukraine’s southern peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.

In a statement on Telegram, Kyiv regional head Mykola Kalashnyk said three people were killed in the Russian attacks and 10 others were injured.

Kalashnyk posted photos of several houses set ablaze after the Russian strikes.

In the capital Kyiv, local officials reported 11 injuries, multiple fires and damage to residential buildings, including a dormitory.

Hundreds of people were seen sheltering in underground stations of the city’s metro. It comes as the capital marks its annual Kyiv Day holiday on Sunday.

In Mykolaiv, Ukraine’s state emergencies service DSNS said the body of an elderly man was pulled out from a five-storey residential building hit by a drone. Another five people were injured.

In Kharkiv, regional authorities reported three injuries.

In Russia, the defence ministry said that Ukrainian drones targeted eight Russian regions.

“From 20:00 Moscow time (17:00 GMT) on 24 May to 00:00 on 25 May, air defence units on duty destroyed and intercepted 95 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles,” the ministry said in a statement.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 12 drones heading towards the capital capital were shot down.

He added that emergency services crews were deployed to assess damage caused by falling drone debris.