Factbox-Russia ramps up missile strikes in Ukraine

KYIV (Reuters) – The number of Russian missile strikes on Ukraine has more than doubled in the last two weeks and a Ukrainian brigadier general said on Thursday that Moscow was using inaccurate Soviet-era missiles for more than half of the attacks.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, denies targeting civilians and says it hits only military infrastructure.

Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov estimated that 68 civilian sites had been hit in the second half of this month.

Here is an overview of some of the most prominent missile strikes in recent days.

Kremenchuk

A Soviet-era Kh-22 missile fired by a Russian bomber hit a crowded shopping mall in the central city of Kremenchuk on Monday, far from frontlines, killing at least 18 people, Ukrainian authorities said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the strike a deliberate “terrorist” attack and Western leaders and the Pope joined him in condemning it.

Russia rejected Ukraine’s account, saying that the missile had struck a store of Western-supplied weapons next to the mall, causing it to catch fire.

Kyiv

Missiles hit an apartment block and the grounds of a nursery in the centre of the Ukrainian capital on Sunday morning, killing one person and wounding six, local officials said. U.S. President Joe Biden called the attack “barbarism,” while Russia said it had hit a rocket factory located near the apartment block.

Mykolaiv

Local authorities said more than 10 missiles struck the southern city of Mykolaiv and its outskirts on Wednesday, including one that hit a five-storey apartment block, killing seven people and wounding six.

Kharkiv

Russian forces shelled central districts of Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv on Monday, hitting apartment buildings and a primary school and killing five people and wounding 22, the regional governor said.

Cherkasy

Missiles hit a strategically-important rail bridge near the central city of Cherkasy across the major Dnipro river on Sunday, killing one person and wounding five, according to local officials. Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said: “They are trying to limit the transfer of our (army) reserves and Western weapons to the east.” The bridge is one of several rail crossings over the Dnipro, which cuts Ukraine in half.

Dnipro

Russian missiles hit railway infrastructure and a tyre repair shop in Ukraine’s eastern industrial city of Dnipro on Tuesday, killing two people, Ukrainian officials said. Russia said it had struck a vehicle repair point used by the Azov combat regiment.

Lysychansk

A rocket loaded with cluster munitions hit a group of civilians queuing for water in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Lysychansk in the eastern Donbas region on Monday, killing eight people and wounding 21, Ukrainian officials said.

Yavoriv

Four missiles hit the area of a military training facility in Yavoriv, only 15 miles (25 km) from the Polish border in Ukraine’s west, local officials said on Saturday. Four people were wounded, according to the regional governor.

Zhytomyr

Almost 30 missiles were fired at military premises in Zhytomyr, killing one soldier, the regional governor said. About 10 of the missiles were shot down en route by Ukrainian air defences, he said.

(Reporting by Max Hunder; editing by Tom Balmforth and Mark Heinrich)