Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, has been attacked from the air by Russia for the ninth time this month.
Kyiv’s authorities said it seemed all incoming missiles had been destroyed, but debris falling from the air caused some damage in two districts.
One person has been killed and two more wounded in a missile strike on the Black Sea port of Odesa, officials say.
Blasts were also heard in the central-western regions of Vinnytsia, Khmelnytsky and Zhytomyr.
Overall, 29 out of 30 missiles launched by Russia overnight were shot down, Ukraine’s Air Force said in a statement.
Russia has significantly increased the frequency of its missile attacks on Ukraine over the past days and weeks, while Ukraine appears to be shooting down more of Russia’s missiles.
So far in May, Russia has carried out four mass launches – two of them between 16 and 18 May alone – compared to one each in April and March, and two in February.
The last time Russia attacked with such intensity was in the period after New Year, when four attacks took place in quick succession between 31 December and January 26.
In a separate development, rail traffic was suspended between Simferopol and the city of Sevastopol after a freight train carrying grain derailed. Simferopol is the regional capital of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Vladimir Konstantinov, the Moscow-installed head of the regional parliament, told Russia’s state media that the derailment was caused by an explosion. An investigation is now under way.
In the latest overnight attack on Kyiv, Russia used cruise missiles and reconnaissance drones, the capital’s military administration said in a statement.
It said that “a series of air attacks on Kyiv, unprecedented in their power, intensity and variety, continues”.
Speaking before the all-clear was given, Kyiv’s Mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said a fire had broken out in a garage in the Darnytsya area of Kyiv, but added no one had been injured. -BBC
