Russia launches new attacks on Odessa and Dnipro

At least 12 people were injured in Russian drone and missile attacks on central and southern Ukraine, authorities reported early on Monday, after Moscow came under one of the heaviest Ukrainian drone attacks of the war.

In the Black Sea port city of Odessa, drones struck a residential building, injuring an 11-year-old boy and a 59-year-old man, officials said. In the city of Dnipro, at least nine people were injured, including a child, according to authorities.

The information could not be independently verified.

Russian officials said on Sunday that Ukraine had launched one of its heaviest attacks on the Moscow region overnight since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion more than four years ago. At least three people were killed, they said.

The Russian reports could not be independently verified.

The number of civilians killed and injured and the extent of the damage on the Russian side are not comparable to the far greater losses and destruction caused in Ukraine by Moscow’s devastating war.

Kindergarten and pyrotechnics warehouse damaged

In Odessa, drones also damaged an educational lecture hall and a kindergarten, Serhiy Lysak, head of the local military administration, wrote on Telegram.

In the south-eastern industrial city of Dnipro, the roof of a 24-storey high-rise caught fire in the attack, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said on Telegram.

A warehouse storing pyrotechnics was also hit and caught fire, he said. Further fires were reported across the city. The full extent of the damage was initially unclear.

Dnipro and Odessa are repeatedly targeted by Russia with missiles and drones of various types.