Sawt Falasteen - Russian barrage on Ukraine kills 15, wounds dozens more

Kyiv has in recent months urged allies to supply more US-made Patriot interceptors as Russia steps up its use of ballistic missiles more than four years into its full-scale invasion.

AFP journalists heard explosions in Kyiv after midnight (2100 GMT Tuesday), following Ukrainian air force warnings of incoming ballistic missiles.

One journalist reported seeing dark smoke and the acrid smell of burning lingering in the air hours later.

Kyiv's military administration said the missile and drone barrage slammed into residential buildings and several warehouses.

"The enemy is once again deliberately striking civilians and civilian infrastructure," it said on Telegram.

The military administration reported one woman killed and at least 24 other people wounded in the capital after strikes sparked fires in four districts.

In the Kyiv region, 14 people were killed in strikes, regional authorities said, noting more than 20 were wounded in Kyiv's surrounding areas.

"Kyiv region experienced one of its most tragic enemy attacks yet again tonight," Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional military administration, wrote on Telegram.

"Russia has once again brought death and destruction to our land, taking the lives of civilians. Just accountability will certainly follow for every such crime."

The violence follows a series of deadly overnight strikes in the capital.

Russian attacks on Kyiv and its suburbs on Saturday killed 10 people and wounded more than 30 others while Ukrainian drones sank a huge Russian container ship in the Black Sea.

- A deliberate 'hunt' -

Both sides have increased long-range attacks in recent weeks, with Russia more than doubling its use of missiles in July, according to an AFP analysis.

Drone strikes have also become a regular occurrence, with Ukraine intensifying its attacks on civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas facilities and logistics in Russia.

Five people were killed and 10 others wounded in the Moscow region on Tuesday morning in strikes that targeted depots of the Russian e-commerce giant Wildberries.

Moscow's mayor said Wednesday the country's air defences had intercepted and destroyed at least 10 drones heading toward the Russian capital.

And the governor of Tula region, south of Moscow, said Russian defences destroyed 107 Ukrainian drones in the area overnight.

He said at two apartment buildings were damaged and said a drone fell on the grounds of a Wildberries logistics facility in the region, causing a fire.

The company, which Ukraine has accused of storing drone parts and helping the Russian army, said it ordered a "precautionary evacuation".

Ukraine, meanwhile, expressed outrage over a video showing a man chased by a drone in Kherson city, calling it a deliberate "hunt" and "safari" targeting civilians.

UN human rights monitors have voiced concern about rising numbers of civilian casualties, which have reached their highest level since Russia's invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said a lack of ballistic missile interceptors "only encourages Russia to launch such attacks that take human lives".

He met his US counterpart Donald Trump last Tuesday, partly to lobby Washington for licences to produce Patriots domestically.

Russia said Saturday's attack struck "military-industrial complex industries and logistics centres". One of the buildings damaged in Kyiv was Lithuania's embassy. Another was a five-storey residential building.

I.Saadi--SF-PST