Residents inspect the scene of a Russian missile strike on a residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday. [AP]
Residents inspect the scene of a Russian missile strike on a residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday. [AP]

Russia continued missile and drone strikes on major Ukrainian cities for a second consecutive day, killing and wounding civilians across the country. Amid deepening shortages in Ukraine's air-defense network, civilian deaths last month surged 70 percent from a year earlier to their highest level since May 2022.

According to AFP, a Russian airstrike hit a warehouse in the Darnytskyi district of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Saturday, killing one person and wounding several others.

In the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a Russian drone strike hit a minibus in the city center, killing one man and wounding four others. Casualties were also reported in Odesa, Kharkiv, Sumy and Kherson following Russian attacks.

On Friday, Russian drones struck the Sun Gallery shopping center in Kryvyi Rih, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, twice, causing mass casualties.

At least 16 people were killed and more than 130 wounded in the attack. A third of the mall's total floor area burned and collapsed, with rescue operations continuing through the night. As of Saturday morning, nine people — including two children — remained missing.

Civilian casualties have been rising sharply as fighting between Russia and Ukraine intensifies.

According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, at least 437 civilians were killed in Ukraine last month — a 70 percent increase from the same month last year and the highest monthly toll in more than four years, since May 2022.

Ukraine has been struggling to intercept Russian ballistic missile attacks as supplies of air-defense assets, including Patriot systems, have dwindled in recent months.

Russia has also kept up strikes on port areas along the Black Sea and the Danube River, seeking to inflict economic damage on Ukraine — a country heavily dependent on agriculture — during the wheat harvest season.

Ukraine, for its part, has been expanding long-range drone strikes on Russian territory, targeting logistics networks and energy facilities in a bid to strain Russia's war-fighting capacity and rear economy.

According to regional Russian authorities, two civilians were killed overnight in a Ukrainian drone attack on the Belgorod region. A warehouse belonging to Russian e-commerce company Ozon was also reported to have been struck.


sjy@heraldcorp.com