Russian shelling of frontline villages in eastern Ukraine has killed four people while rescuers in the city of Dnipro dig through rubble after another attack ripped through a nine-storey residential building, leaving one dead, officials say.
The attacks came as Russia continued to stretch out Ukrainian forces in several areas along the 1000km front.
Moscow has stepped up air strikes in a bid to drain Ukraine's resources, often targeting energy facilities and other vital infrastructure.
Dnipro. A Russian missile directly hit an apartment building. Four floors have been destroyed. Three people injured. Rescuers, medical workers, and all services are already on the site, providing all necessary assistance. — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) That is why we keep reminding all our partners that only… pic.twitter.com/iOlBvOUwoIJune 28, 2024
The shelling of the frontline village of Niu-York in the Donetsk region also left five injured, Governor Vadym Filashkin said.
He said Russian forces had shelled populated areas 13 times in the past 24 hours.
In Dnipro, at least one person died and 12 were injured, including a seven-month-old girl, after a Russian strike destroyed the top four floors of the apartment bloc Friday evening, regional head Serhii Lysak said.
Kyiv has also struck back at Russia with aerial attacks.
A Ukrainian drone strike killed at least five people in Russia's Kursk region, local officials said on Saturday.
Two children were among the victims of the attack in the village of Gorodishche on the Russian-Ukrainian border, Governor Alexey Smirnov said on social media.
In its morning statement, the Russian Defence Ministry said that six Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight over the country's Tver, Bryansk and Belgorod regions, as well as over the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
It did not give information on the reported strike in the Kursk region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the country had lost about 80 per cent of its thermal power and a third of its hydroelectric power in recent Russian strikes.
Discussing the attack in Dnipro, Zelenskiy said it was a reminder to Ukraine's allies that the country needed more air defence systems.
The Ukrainian air force said on Saturday it had downed 10 Russian drones overnight.
"This is why we constantly remind all of our partners: only a sufficient amount of high-quality of air defence systems, only a sufficient amount of determination from the world at large can stop Russian terror," he said.