At least four dead after Russia launches overnight wave of missile strikes on Ukraine

Russian forces launched a series of overnight missile strikes on Ukraine on Monday, triggering air raid alerts throughout the country, reports Ukraine’s Air Force. At least four people were reportedly killed and over 30 were injured.

Ukrainian media wrote of explosions in Kryvyi Rih, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Khmelnytskyi, and in the Kharkiv region. Power went out in some areas of Zaporizhzhia.

Two people were reportedly killed in the Khmelnytskyi region.

Russia carried out at least four strikes on Kharkiv, damaging businesses and an educational institution, said Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov. A 53-year-old civilian was injured. In Zmiiv, a city in the region, a home was hit, and two men were rescued from the rubble. A woman, who had been trapped under the debris, was later reported to have died.

Early Monday, there were five explosions in Zaporizhzhia, according to the region’s governor, Yuriy Malashko. “Missiles hit residential areas, [both] open areas and near houses. As of 8:00 a.m. [local time], there are two known casualties: a man and a woman,” Malashko said.

In Novomoskovsk in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region around 20 people, including children, were injured due to a missile strike that damaged residential buildings, according to the city's mayor, Serhii Reznik.

Ukrainian media outlets reported that a missile strike significantly damaged a shopping center in Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Residential buildings and schools were also damaged, said Mayor Oleksandr Vilkul, and one person was killed.

Defense forces in southern Ukraine also reported that air defense units shot down eight Shahed drones during the night: seven in the Odesa region and one in the Mykolaiv region. Debris from a drone downed in the Odesa region started a fire in an open area. The fire was quickly extinguished and no casualties were reported.