Russia bombardment of Ukrainian cities kills 21

At least 21 people were reportedly killed on Tuesday night as Russian troops intensified its bombardment of Ukranian cities of Kharkiv and Zhytomyr, with cruise missiles, Ukraine military officials said.

The deaths, reported early on Wednesday on Ukraine’s TV 24, came as Ukrainian authorities said another five people had been killed in a Russia attack on a television tower in the capital, Kyiv.

“Forces from Russia have intensified their bombardment of Ukraine’s biggest cities, raining rockets on residential areas and killing at least 21 people in the eastern city of Kharkiv and four in the western city of Zhytomyr,” Oleh Sinehubov, the governor of Kharkiv, said.

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He added that Russian shelling and bombing of various locations in Ukraine’s second biggest city had also wounded 112 people as well.

“Fires due to the air raids are still being eliminated, shells are being detonated,” he said.

The attacks on urban areas signal a shift of Russian tactics amid Western assessments that Moscow’s six-day invasion had stalled.

They have also raised fears the invading troops may now fall back on tactics that call for a crushing bombardment of built-up areas before trying to enter them.

Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said on his Telegram channel that a Russian cruise missile had hit residential areas in Zhytomyr, about 120km (75 miles) west of Kyiv.

“So far, four people have died. Including a child. The missile was aimed at a nearby base of the 95th Airborne Brigade in Zhytomyr,” Herashchenko said.