Missile attack kills policeman and injures 52 others in Zelensky’s hometown

Several Russian attacks hit Ukraine overnight, officials said.

A Russian missile attack on President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown in central Ukraine has killed one policeman and injured at least 52 others, emergency officials said.

The incident was one of several Russian attacks across the country overnight, officials said.

Ten buildings were damaged in the attack on Kryvyi Rih.

Meanwhile, Moscow is trying to strengthen its position politically with local elections in areas it has illegally annexed, including some it still does not control. Ukraine’s foreign ministry said it does not recognise the “fake elections”.

Wreckage — One policeman is said to have been killed (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Photos posted by Mr Klymenko on Telegram showed a building on fire and emergency services evacuating the injured.

Three people were also killed on Friday after a Russian bomb struck the village of Odradokamianka in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, Mr Klymenko said.

He added that three people were also injured in a Russian missile attack in the eastern city of Sumy.

Russian forces also struck the Odesa region in the west with drones for the fifth time in a week, regional governor Oleh Kiper said. No casualties were reported.

The southern region of Mykolaiv was also targeted, governor Vitalii Kim said on Telegram.

Ukraine’s internal affairs ministry said one person was wounded in a Russian missile attack on Zaporizhzhia city in southern Ukraine.

Also on Friday, a funeral was being held for an 18-year-old who was among 16 people killed on Wednesday in a Russian attack on a market in Kostiantynivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

The attack, which wounded 33 others, destroyed the market and overshadowed a two-day visit by US secretary of state Antony Blinken aimed at assessing Ukraine’s three-month-old counter-offensive and signalling continued US support with the announcement of an additional one billion dollars (£801 million) in aid.

Voters go to the polls — Voters gather to cast their ballots in a street near their apartment building during local elections in the capital of Russian-controlled Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine (AP)

Russia is also holding local elections in the part of the Kherson region it controls. Local elections are also being held in the Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

In Kherson, local residents and Ukrainian activists say election poll workers have made house calls accompanied by armed soldiers.

Ukraine has dismissed the elections, calling on its allies to condemn Russia’s actions and urging them not to recognise any administration created as a result of the votes.