Ukraine war: Russian air strikes claim five lives in Kyiv and Mykolaiv

Russian missile and drone strikes targeted cities across Ukraine on Wednesday morning, killing at least five people and wounding dozens more, Ukrainian authorities said.

Four people were killed when a block of flats was hit in Kyiv's south-western Holosiyivsky district.

A man was also killed in the southern city of Mykolaiv, officials said.

The whole country was put under air alert and attacks were reported as far west as Lviv, near the Polish border.

Ukraine's commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said Russia had fired 64 missiles and drones, of which 44 were intercepted. According to the Ukrainian air force, Russian cruise missiles were detected above the western regions of Lviv, Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said initially that two people had been killed in "another massive attack against our country". Further victims were found in the rubble of the 18-floor residential building.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a downed Russian missile damaged power lines and some households in the capital were without electricity.

In Mykolaiv, one person who was taken to hospital later died of his injuries, the city's mayor Oleksandr Senkevich said.

Others were treated at the scene after the attack, which damaged homes and disrupted gas and water supplies, he added.

Explosions were also heard in Kharkiv, with some damage to infrastructure reported by military authorities.

Ukraine has come under frequent air attack since Russia invaded on 24 February 2022. Russian forces regularly use different types of weapons in their attacks, including drones and missiles.