Russian forces have fired missiles at the town of Vilniansk, outside the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing seven people including two children and injuring up to 18 others, officials says.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy repeated his appeal to allies to provide Ukraine with more long-range weapons and enhanced air defences to stop what he said were daily attacks.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said two missiles were fired on the town, damaging infrastructure, a shop and residential buildings.
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko put the death toll at seven, including two children, with 18 others injured, including four children.
"Today the enemy carried out yet another dreadful terrorist act against the civilian population," Zaporizhzhia regional governor Ivan Fedorov said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app.
The attack occurred in "the middle of the day, a non-working day, in the town centre, where people were out relaxing, where there were no military targets," Fedorov said.
Zelenskiy posted photos from the site showing a large crater, downed trees and a pair of tarpaulins spread out on the ground of what looked like a park.
"Our cities and communities suffer daily from such Russian strikes. But there are ways to overcome this," Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.
"Destroying terrorists where they are. Destroying Russian missile launchers, striking with real long-range capability and increasing the number of modern air defence systems in Ukraine" were ways to defend the country from such attacks, Zelenskiy said.
Meanwhile Russia's air defence systems destroyed 36 drones that Ukraine launched overnight targeting several regions in Russia's southwest, the defence ministry said on Sunday.
Fifteen drones were destroyed over the Kursk region that borders Ukraine and nine over the Lipetsk region, several hundred kilometres south of Moscow, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app.
Four drones were destroyed each over the Voronezh and Bryansk regions in southwestern Russia and two each over the nearby Oryol and Belgorod regions.
The governors of the Lipetsk and Bryansk regions said on their Telegram channels that there were no injuries or extensive damage as a result of the attacks.
Russian officials often do not disclose the full extent of damage inflicted by Ukrainian attacks.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
Australian Associated Press
