KYIV, Ukraine, May 22, 2023 (AFP) – Russian forces targeted the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro overnight with 16 missiles and 20 attack drones, Ukraine’s army said Monday.
The attacks on troops and infrastructure were carried out by various types of missiles and Iranian-made Shahed drones, the general staff wrote on Facebook, saying its air defences had destroyed all the drones and four of the cruise missiles, without giving details.
Dnipro is a large city with almost one million inhabitants before the war. It is around 125 kilometres (78 miles) from the current front line.
Officials said the scale of the attack was unprecedented.
“Today the whole of Dnipro did not sleep. There has not been such shelling since the start of the war,” the city’s mayor Borys Filatov wrote on Telegram messenger.
Regional governor Sergiy Lysak wrote on Telegram that Ukraine forces had withstood an attack by “fascists, terrorists and subhumans”. He said that 15 drones had been shot down.
He said a 25-year-old man was injured by a missile attack in one district and seven were injured in another district including two women in their 50s and 70s.
Ukraine’s emergency service posted footage of fire stations with roofs blown off and fire engines torn apart.
It said one of its rescuers was injured, while three of its buildings and more than 20 pieces of equipment were destroyed.
Russia’s night-time shelling of Ukraine has increased since the start of May, particularly targeting Kyiv.
Ukraine says that its air defences have been able to destroy most of the attack drones and missiles.
