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Massive overnight Russian strikes hit Ukraine killing at least five

Vitaly Shevchenko,Russia editor, BBC Monitoring, Kyivand
Toby Mann
News imageReuters A man stands on an empty highway to photograph dark clouds of smoke rising through the early morning sky over a city.Reuters

At least five people have been killed and dozens have been injured after Russia launched a major overnight attack on cities across Ukraine.

Four people were killed in Dnipro and 16 were injured. One person was also killed in Kyiv, where at least 29 were injured following Russian strikes in the early hours of Tuesday.

Thousands of people took shelter in the capital as large plumes of smoke rose from the city's centre. Air raid warnings were in place across most of Ukraine.

Moscow last week warned it would launch "systematic strikes" on Ukraine in response to a drone strike last month on a dormitory in Ukraine's Russian-held Luhansk region which killed 21 people.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has urged people to stay in shelters. The head of Kyiv's City Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, said: "The enemy is striking with ballistic missiles."

Klitschko said two high-rise apartment buildings had been hit and there are fears people are trapped under rubble.

News imageReuters Firefighters work at a car dealership damaged during Russian missile and drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine on 2 June.Reuters

As the Russian attacks hit Kyiv through the early morning, the buzz of drones could be heard between more than a dozen loud explosions as strikes made impact.

Blackouts and fires have also been reported across the city and the wider extent of damage is not yet clear.

An industrial facility has also been attacked in Zaporizhzhia.

The attacks come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday reiterated warnings of a possible massive Russian strike and urged residents to pay special attention to air raid alerts.

"Intelligence warnings regarding Russian strikes remain in effect. A massive strike is possible, they have prepared one," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

Last week Russia said it would target military and decision-making centres in Kyiv, and urged foreigners to leave the city.

In a statement, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said it did carry out an attack near Starobilsk on the night of 21-22 May, but maintains that it struck a Russian military unit.