Russia has launched a large-scale missile attack across Ukraine, with at least three people dead after residential and industrial buildings were hit, Ukrainian authorities said.
Two people were killed after a Russian missile hit critical infrastructure in the western Ukraine region of Khmelnytskyi, regional officials said.
At least six blasts have been reported there but officials gave no immediate details of damages.
Meanwhile a 62-year-old was killed outside the south central city of Kryvyi Rih where governor Serhiy Lysak said a shopping centre and and more than two dozen private buildings were damaged in strikes.
“The mad enemy once again struck civilians,” Mr Lysak wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Directed missiles at people.”
Oleksandr Vilkul, the mayor of Kryvyi Rih, reported that 15,000 residents were without power and that local trams and trolleybuses were not running.
“The enemy is viciously attacking peaceful cities,” Mr Vilkul said on the Telegram messaging app.
Mr Vilkul said full information about the extent of potential damages will be disclosed after the Russian attack was over.
All of Ukraine was under air raid alerts for more than three hours from around 6am local time (4am UK time) with Ukraine’s Air Force saying the country was under threat from several waves of cruise missiles and in some regions ballistic missiles.
The latest strikes come as a cold snap sweeps across Ukraine.
The targets of the Russian attack and the full scale of the strikes has not been immediately clear.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow.
Anatoliy Kurtiev, secretary of the southeastern Zaporizhzhia city council, said on Telegram that a missile attack on the city resulted in injuries, but he did not provide further details.
In the eastern city of Kharkiv, an industrial site and educational facility were damaged after at least four missile strikes, governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
At least one woman has been injured in the strikes on the city, mayor Ihor Terekhov said on the Telegram messaging app.
Meanwhile, four people were wounded in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, where governor Yuriy Malashko reported five explosions and said residential areas had been hit.
“Missiles hit residential areas,” Mr Malaskho said on Telegram.
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Military officials in other cities, including Dnipro in central Ukraine, said their cities were under a “massive missile attack” by Russia.
Nearly two years into the war that Russia started with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, both sides have shifted to increased airstrikes, having struggled to make significant gains along the frontlines.
Russia has launched some of its largest attacks on Kyiv, as well as Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv.
The latest strikes come after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to back soldiers who defend Russia’s interests, ordering his government to give greater support to those who fight.
He made the remarks after Russia launched drone and missile attacks on Ukraine over the weekend – with two people killed and several injured in the southern city of Kherson, while twelve people were injured in a strike on Dnipro.
Speaking on the eve of Orthodox Christmas, the Russian president said on Saturday while meeting families of soldiers killed in Ukraine: “Many of our men, our courageous, heroic guys, Russian warriors, even now, on this holiday, defend the interests of our country with arms in hand.”
