Sawt Falasteen - Four dead in Ukraine as Russia evacuates hundreds from border city

As the war approaches its second anniversary, both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of causing dozens of civilian casualties in a sharp escalation of attacks.

"Overnight on 8 January, 2024, the enemy launched a massive attack on Ukraine," the country's air force said on social media.

Russian missiles hit a shopping centre and high-rise buildings in President Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rig, killing one person, deputy head of the presidency Oleksiy Kuleba said.

"In Kryvyi Rig, there are many breakages in power grids, there are power outages, and electric transport does not work," he said.

A separate missile attack in the western region of Khmelnytsky killed two people, officials said, while an elderly woman in Kharkiv region died after being pulled from the rubble of her home.

Moscow said in its latest defence ministry briefing that it had only struck "military" targets.

Bolstered by Western air equipment, Ukraine's defence forces had been destroying most of the drones and missiles that Russia launched in regular aerial strikes.

But it downed just 18 out of 51 missiles on Monday.

"A large number of ballistic missiles were launched today... Many said the rate (of destroyed missiles) is not very high," air force spokesman Yuri Ignat acknowledged.

But air defence achieved "a good result" Ignat said, with all drones destroyed and some Russian missiles also missing their targets.

Ukraine has warned it needs continued support to sustain its air defence systems, amid an escalation in aerial attacks from both sides.

- Unprecedented evacuations -

Russian territory has also seen renewed drone attacks.

Russian air defences downed two Ukrainian drones over the border region of Bryansk on Monday, the ministry said.

The announcement came as Russia moved some 300 people from the border city of Belgorod due to Ukrainian shelling, the biggest evacuation from a major Russian city since the conflict began.

Kyiv's forces have launched waves of deadly strikes on Belgorod, which lies less than 20 miles (32 kilometres) from the Ukrainian border.

Some 300 residents who decided to leave are now being housed in temporary accommodation in the towns of Stary Oskol, Gubkin and the Korochansky district, further from the border, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

"Over the past 24 hours we received 1,300 requests to send Belgorod children to school camps away from the city in other regions," he added.

The Kremlin has tried to maintain a semblance of normalcy on the home front, but recent strikes on Belgorod have brought conflict in Ukraine closer to home for many Russians.

On December 30, Ukrainian shelling of the city killed 25 people, prompting schools to shut for an extended period.

Moscow vowed to intensify strikes on Ukraine in response to the attack, the deadliest in Russia since the start of the war in February 2022.

O.Mousa--SF-PST