The Interior Ministry said a Russian missile slammed into a residential building in the central city of Poltava on Saturday, killing four people and injuring 13, including three children.
The ministry posted pictures on the Telegram messaging app showing the residential building with several top floors smashed and thick columns of smoke rising into the sky.
Last night, Russia launched an attack on our cities using various types of weapons: missiles, attack drones, and aerial bombs. Another wave of terrorist crimes.— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) In Poltava, a residential building was hit, a section of the building was completely destroyed. Ten people were… pic.twitter.com/1FQAf4bfqlFebruary 1, 2025
Firefighters and dozens of rescuers were going through the rubble.
One person was killed and four were wounded in the city of Kharkiv in the northeast as the result of a drone attack, the Kharkiv mayor said.
Three police officers were killed during the attacks as they patrolled streets in a village in the northeast region of Sumy, regional officials said.
"Last night Russia attacked our cities using various types of weapons: missiles, attack drones, and aerial bombs," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, adding damage was caused in six regions.
"Each such terrorist attack proves that we need more support in defending ourselves against Russian terror.
"Every air defence system, every anti-missile weapon, saves lives," he said on the Telegram app.
In Poltava, a small city located about 120km from the Russian border, about 18 apartment buildings, a kindergarten, and energy infrastructure were damaged, city authorities said.
Russian air and drone attacks have hit cities including Poltava, Odesa, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. (AP PHOTO)
Ukrainian officials said damage was also registered in the city of Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, Kharkiv and Sumy regions in the northeast, and Khmelnytskyi in the west.
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said Russian forces used six missiles and 17 Shahed drones to target gas infrastructure and other facilities.
Russia's Defence Ministry said that its forces had launched attacks aimed at Ukraine's gas and other energy infrastructure and had shot down 108 Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours, Russian news agencies reported.
Since March 2024, Russia has launched multiple missile and drone attacks on Ukraine's power sector and other energy infrastructure, knocking out about half of the country's available generating capacity and forcing rolling blackouts.
As the war approaches its three-year mark in February and Russian forces make small but steady gains in eastern Ukraine, edging closer to the strategic logistic hub of Pokrovsk, both sides are using drones to hit infrastructure and disrupt military supply lines.
Moscow's strikes early on Saturday followed a Russian missile attack the previous evening which damaged the historic centre of the Black Sea port of Odesa.
