Russia launched a fresh wave of drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities overnight, with more than 20 people reported injured, local officials said.
Reports of Russian strikes come after Ukraine launched hundreds of drone strikes over the weekend, targeting the Moscow region.
The attacks came after at least 24 people were killed and 50 others were injured in Russian attacks on Kiev.
Central and southern Ukraine were targeted
Residential buildings along with a school and kindergarten were affected in the Black Sea port city of Odessa, Serhiy Lysak, head of the local military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Lisak said there were other attacks on infrastructure in the area but there was no information whether there were any more victims.
In the city of Dnipro in the southeast, at least 26 people, including a child, were injured, regional governor Oleksandr Hanza said on Telegram.
“Twenty-six people were injured. The enemy attacked six districts in the area with missiles, drones, artillery and aerial bombs,” Hanzha said.
Ukraine’s Air Force said on Monday that Russia fired 524 drones and 22 missiles overnight. The air force said air defense units managed to intercept 503 drones and said Dnipro and the surrounding area appeared to be the primary target.
Although reports of the latest attacks cannot be independently verified, Russian missile and drone attacks regularly target Dnipro and Odessa.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Rostov Oblast governor Yuri Slyusar said on Telegram that forces had repelled airstrikes in the region with drones destroyed in Taganrog, Kamensky and Azov districts.
Reported strikes also cannot be independently verified.
Zelensky: Ukraine’s long-range capabilities ‘changing the situation’
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to launch a retaliatory strike after deadly Russian attacks on Kiev.
Over the weekend, Zelensky said Ukraine’s long-range capabilities were “significantly changing the situation.”
“The war is largely returning to its ‘native port,’ and this is a clear signal that one should not pick a fight with Ukraine or wage an unjust war of conquest against other peoples,” Zelensky said in a video message posted on Twitter.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery