KYIV, Nov 3: Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Tuesday Russian air defence systems downed nearly 500 drones headed towards the capital, as a flare-up in fighting with Ukraine dashed hopes of progress towards peace.
The attacks followed a rare pause in the fighting between Russia and Ukraine in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, which ended Sunday.
The truce, which was the longest in the war that erupted in February 2022, enabled a humanitarian mission to the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky.
Hours after the local ceasefire ended, Russia targeted a village in Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, killing at least 26 people, the acting regional governor said.
Putin accused of breaching own truce as brief pause to fighting...
On Tuesday, Ukrainian authorities reported a string of Russian strikes had hit the country overnight, forcing patients to evacuate a medical facility and triggering air defence systems in neighbouring Poland.
Authorities in the northeastern city of Kharkiv said a Russian strike wounded 25 people at the medical facility and damaged a building, windows and cars.
"An enemy strike was recorded on a passageway between buildings at a medical facility in the Nemyshlianskyi district," Oleg Synegubov, head of the Kharkiv regional state administration, posted on Telegram.
"Preliminary information indicates that 200 patients will be evacuated to other medical facilities," he added.
Kharkiv's mayor Igor Terekhov warned on Telegram that the city was "under a combined attack by ballistic missiles and guided aerial bombs", urging residents to "be careful!"
Ukraine's army warned of ballistic missiles heading towards Kharkiv and various other parts of the country, including the capital Kyiv, Dnipro and Sumy.
Regional governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oleksandr Ganzha said a Russian strike hit critical infrastructure in the Dnipro, as well as President Volodymyr Zelensky's hometown Kryvy Rig.
Poland said it activated air defences aimed at protecting its airspace, particularly in areas bordering Ukraine.
The strikes came as US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington-led talks between Russia and Ukraine were set to resume next week.
President Donald Trump has pushed for a settlement to the dragging war but there has been no breakthrough.
