KYIV: A wave of Russian missiles hit Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities killing seven people and wounding dozens, setting ablaze and toppling apartment blocks and creating new panic among exhausted residents.
Rescue workers in Kharkiv -- Ukraine's second city that is near Russia's border -- hauled survivors from smouldering piles of rubble, journalists reported.
The regional governor said six Kharkiv residents were killed in the overnight barrage and another 51 wounded, as medics treated survivors in blood-soaked clothes and bandages.
Interior Minister Igor Klymenko praised "heroic" rescuers that he said had pulled 27 survivors from rubble. He posted dramatic footage of workers cutting free a man who had been trapped in freezing temperatures for hours.
Ukraine's army chief Valery Zaluzhny said Russian forces fired 41 missiles in the barrage and his forces had downed 21 of them.
Reporters in Kyiv heard air raid sirens echo over the capital at night, followed by a series of loud blasts as defence systems targeted the aerial onslaught.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 20 people were wounded in the attack on Kyiv that set buildings and cars ablaze in central districts.
In the region around Kyiv, officials said four people were wounded after residential blocks, private homes and farm buildings were damaged.
Further south, in the city of Pavlograd, the Dnipropetrovsk governor said one person had been killed and another wounded.
Separately, the governor of the southern region of Kherson, which the Kremlin claims is part of Russia, said a 70-year-old man had been killed by Russian forces, without giving details.
The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink said the attacks showed that Washington should double down on support.
"Ukraine needs our continued support now, to protect itself against these cruel attacks on civilians," she said on social media.
France's foreign ministry condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the wave of Russian missiles.
"By deliberately targeting Ukrainian civilian infrastructure once again, Russia is guilty of war crimes and bears sole responsibility for the escalation," it said in a statement.
Russia said it had launched long-range strikes on weapons production facilities in Ukraine, without giving details.
"The goals of the strike have been achieved. All designated facilities have been hit," said a defence ministry statement.
The Kremlin -- responding to questions from reporters about the attacks -- denied Russian forces had targeted civilian infrastructure and vowed to continue Moscow's nearly two-year attack. — AFP
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