At the least 12 individuals have been killed and dozens injured throughout Ukraine in in a single day Russian drone and missile assaults, regional officers and emergency companies say.
Three kids have been killed in Zhytomyr, west of Kyiv, and a person in his 70s was killed within the southern metropolis of Mykolaiv, the state emergencies service mentioned.
It comes a day after the Ukrainian capital suffered one of many heaviest assaults because the begin of the Russian invasion.
Saturday’s assaults, which killed 13 individuals throughout Ukraine, come as diplomatic efforts to finish the preventing have resulted in prisoner exchanges, however Russia has ignored requires a ceasefire.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow at present controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
This contains Crimea – Ukraine’s southern peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
Ukraine’s air drive mentioned it had shot down 45 cruise missiles and neutralised 266 unmanned aerial autos (UAVs) since 20:40 native time (17:40 GMT) on Saturday.
It mentioned most areas in Ukraine have been affected by the in a single day assaults. The air drive recorded hits in 22 areas and the autumn of downed cruise missiles and UAVs in 15 areas.
In an announcement on Fb, Khmelnytskyi regional head Serhiy Tyurin mentioned 4 individuals have been killed and 5 have been injured.
“Six personal homes have been destroyed, and one other 20 broken,” he added.
Ukraine’s state emergencies service DSNS mentioned 4 individuals had been killed and 16 injured, together with three kids, within the Kyiv area.
Kyiv regional head Mykola Kalashnyk posted images on social media of a number of homes set ablaze after the Russian strikes.
Within the capital, Kyiv, native officers reported 11 accidents, a number of fires and injury to residential buildings, together with a dormitory.
Tons of of individuals have been seen sheltering in underground stations of town’s metro. It comes because the capital marks its annual Kyiv Day vacation on Sunday.
In Zhytomyr, DSNS mentioned three kids aged eight, 12 and 17 have been killed, 10 individuals have been injured and personal houses have been “destroyed and broken”.
DSNS mentioned the physique of an aged man was pulled out from a five-storey residential constructing hit by a drone in Mykolaiv. One other 5 individuals have been injured.
In Kharkiv, regional authorities reported three accidents.
In Russia, the defence ministry mentioned that Ukrainian drones focused eight Russian areas.
“From 20:00 Moscow time (17:00 GMT) on 24 Could to 00:00 on 25 Could, air defence models on responsibility destroyed and intercepted 95 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial autos,” the ministry mentioned in an announcement.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that 12 drones heading in the direction of the capital have been shot down.
He added that emergency companies crews have been deployed to evaluate injury attributable to falling drone particles.
Within the Tula area, simply south of Moscow, drone wreckage crashed within the courtyard of a residential constructing, smashing home windows in plenty of residences, native governor Dmitriy Milyaev mentioned.
No-one was injured, he added.
The assaults got here as Russia and Ukraine participate in prisoner swaps agreed after talks between the 2 sides in Turkey.
On Friday, Ukraine and Russia every handed over 390 troopers and civilians within the largest prisoner trade since Russia launched its full-scale assault in February 2022.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky introduced that one other 307 Ukrainian prisoners had returned house as a part of an trade take care of the Kremlin.
The 2 international locations have agreed to swap a complete of 1,000 prisoners every, and one other trade is anticipated on Sunday.
The swap follows the primary face-to-face talks between the 2 sides in three years, which befell in Turkey.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump and Putin had a two-hour cellphone name to debate a US-proposed Ukraine ceasefire deal.
Trump mentioned he believed the decision had gone “very effectively”, and added that Russia and Ukraine will “instantly begin” negotiations towards a ceasefire and “an finish to the battle”.
Nonetheless, Putin has solely mentioned Russia would work with Ukraine to craft a “memorandum” on a “attainable future peace”, and has not accepted a 30-day ceasefire.
