At least 9 killed as Russia launches fresh attacks across Ukraine's Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia

Russian missile, drone and glide bomb attacks across Ukraine killed at least nine people and injured dozens on Monday, with strikes hitting several major cities as rescue operations continued and the casualty toll rose through the day.The deadliest attack took place in the southeastern city of Dnipro, where a Russian missile strike killed five people and wounded 29 others, according to regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha.Hanzha shared photographs showing a passenger minibus with its rear doors blown off, shattered windows in a nearby building and a blurred image of a body lying beside a staircase.“Russia launched a missile strike on Dnipro, targeting infrastructure,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that emergency crews were working at the scene.“It is essential that Europe is as active as possible in developing its own anti-ballistic defence – its own systems and missiles,” he said.In the southern Zaporizhzhia region, a Russian drone struck a passenger minibus, killing two men and one woman. Eight other people, including a seven-year-old boy, were injured, regional authorities said.Governor Ivan Fedorov posted footage showing a white minibus with blood covering the floor, damaged rear doors and the body of one of the victims still inside.Later in the day, another Russian strike hit a civilian van in Zaporizhzhia, setting it ablaze. No casualties were reported in that attack, Fedorov said.In northeastern Kharkiv, a Russian glide bomb killed a 23-year-old woman and injured 10 others, local officials said.Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the strike damaged a tram and more than 15 vehicles. A second glide bomb landed less than an hour later but failed to explode.Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv, all major industrial centres, have repeatedly come under Russian attacks during the war, now in its fifth year.Russia did not immediately comment on Monday’s attacks.The conflict has killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians since it began. Moscow has also accused Ukraine of carrying out attacks on civilian targets in Russia and Russian-occupied territories, although on a much smaller scale. Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians.