Russia launches airstrikes on Kyiv and Odessa, reports say in Ukraine

(Reuters) – Russian air strikes on Ukraine kept the eastern half of the country on alert for more than five hours, the Ukrainian military said early on Sunday. Moscow launched several waves of attacks against Kyiv and other cities.

“The enemy used its drones against Kiev again overnight!” Serhiy Popko, head of the Kiev military administration, said in the messaging app Telegram. “Russian drones entered the capital of Ukraine in several waves and from different directions.”

All air assets were destroyed on their approach and, according to preliminary information, there were no reports of damage or injuries, Popko said. Details on the scope of the attack would be announced later in the day, he said.

During the night, air raid alerts were announced for the capital and its region three times, a total of more than five hours, said Popko.

Hennadii Trukhanov, mayor of the Black Sea port of Odessa, said on Telegram that Russia had attacked the southern city overnight and reported several explosions.

There was no information about damage or injuries.

Oleksandr Prokudin, governor of the southern Kherson region, said on Telegram early Sunday that one civilian had died and 15 were injured in Russia’s attacks on the region over the past 24 hours.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. Russia has not commented.

Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war, which Russia began in February 2022 with a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbor. But thousands of civilians have died, the vast majority of them Ukrainians.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Sandra Maler and William Mallard)