Rescuers work at the site of a residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile in the town of Uman, Cherkasy region. /Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/
TOP HEADLINES
• Russia hurled missiles at cities across Ukraine as people slept early on Friday, killing at least 12 people in the first large-scale air strikes in nearly two months. READ MORE BELOW
• Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday said the real aim of the West in Ukraine is to strategically defeat Russia, to pose a threat to China, and to maintain its own monopoly position, state-owned news agency RIA reported.
• Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said he had invited Pope Francis to visit Ukraine and that he had discussed Kyiv's formula for peace during talks at the Vatican. Shmyhal also told a news conference in Italy that a phone call between the leaders of China and Ukraine could prove a very positive beginning for future relations.
• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the telephone call on Thursday between China's President Xi Jinping and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
• Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that the Black Sea grain deal could only be saved by fully implementing it and that it was not "a buffet you can pick and choose from." Moscow says parts of the deal meant to allow it to export its own agricultural goods are not being honoured.
• Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that Moscow did not intend to go down the path of nuclear escalation, but advised others not to test its patience.
• NATO allies and partners have delivered almost all their promised combat vehicles to Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. "More than 98 percent of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine have already been delivered."
Local residents react near the site of a heavily damaged residential building hit by a Russian missile. /Carlos Barria/Reuters
IN DEPTH
Twelve killed as Ukrainian cities hit by overnight bombings
Early-morning attacks on Ukrainian cities were carried out as Kyiv prepares to launch a counteroffensive to try to retake Russian-occupied territory.
In the central city of Uman, firefighters battled a raging blaze at a residential apartment building that had been struck on an upper floor. At least 10 people were killed, including two children, and nine were taken to hospital, regional governor Ihor Taburets said.
Rescue workers clambered through a huge pile of the smouldering rubble, carrying out a body bag away on a stretcher. A grown man wearing a face mask sobbed as he watched, and a woman came to comfort him.
"At first the windows were blown out, then came the explosion," a resident of the apartment building who gave her name only as Olga said as rescue workers dug through the debris. "Everything flew out."
In the southeastern city of Dnipro, a missile struck a house, killing a two-year-old child and a 31-year-old woman, regional governor Serhiy Lysak said. Three people were also wounded in the attack.
The Ukrainian military said it had shot down 21 out of 23 cruise missiles fired by Russia.
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