34 people, including five children, have been injured due to a rocket strike on the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad. The attack appeared to have been targeted at an ammunition depot. The overnight attack damaged 19 high-rise apartment blocks, 25 private houses, six schools and kindergartens and five shops.
Air raid sirens began blaring across the capital at about 3.45 am, followed by the sounds of explosions as missiles were intercepted by Ukrainian defence systems. The raid alert lasted for about three hours.
Eighteen cruise missiles were fired in total from the Murmansk region and the Caspian region, and 15 of them were intercepted, said Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
The head of Kyiv's city administration, Serhii Popko, told AP all missiles fired at the city were shot down, as well as some drones. He didn't provide further details but said more information would be available later.
This is Russia's second pre-dawn attack in three days involving missiles. Pavlohrad is around 70 miles (110km) from the frontline.
Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk military administration described it as a "tragic night and morning," BBC reported. On Sunday, two civilians died after Ukrainian shells hit the village of Suzemka in Russia's Byransk region. Also, five Russian villages were without power as a result of shelling by Ukraine.
--With PTI inputs
