At least 14 killed as Russian missiles strike Ukrainian cities overnight

ISTANBUL

The death toll from a series of Russian missile attacks on Ukrainian cities rose to 14, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Friday.

On Facebook, Klymenko said Russia had launched missile attacks on the cities of Dnipro, Uman and Ukrainka in the morning.

One of the missiles hit an apartment and warehouse building in Uman, located some 190 kilometers (118 miles) south of the capital Kyiv, he said.

The injured are currently getting medical treatment, said Klymenko, who added: "Three children were saved."

In Dnipro, a woman and a 3-year-old were killed in the most recent strikes on the city, Mayor Borys Filatov said, adding on Facebook: "High-precision weapons ... once again killed civilians in Dnipro.”

Ukraine's air defense forces shot down 11 Russian missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles en route to Kyiv on Friday night, according to Serhiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration.

Russia also launched missiles from the Caspian Sea region early on Friday, Ukrainian officials said.

Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said on Telegram that 21 out of 23 cruise missiles and two operational-tactical drones "were destroyed by the anti-aircraft missile units of Ukraine's Air Forces in cooperation with the air defense systems of other elements of our Defense Forces."

The Ukraine Armed Forces General Staff said in the past 24 hours, the army had successfully repelled 65 attacks launched by Russia on the Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Maryinka areas.

In a statement, the army said Russia had launched eight missiles and 31 airstrikes, as well as 56 rounds from multiple rocket launchers, on Ukrainian military and civilian positions.

"Civilians suffered, private residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed and damaged," the army said, adding that all of these were "repelled by units of the defense forces."

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that Russian Aerospace forces carried out a missile strike at night at the points of temporary deployment of reserve units of the Ukrainian armed forces.

"The purpose of the strike was achieved, the advance of enemy reserves into combat areas was stopped," the ministry said.