Extract from ABC News
Russian missiles have targeted Ukraine's two biggest cities, damaging apartment buildings and killing at least five people.
Key points:
- Five people have been killed and at least 20 have been left injured after Russian missiles struck two Ukrainian cities
- The attacks were two days after Russian officials claimed Ukrainian shelling killed 27 people in Donetsk
- The Kremlin said Russia's military did not target civilians
The Russian barrage included more than 40 ballistic, cruise, anti-aircraft and guided missiles, officials said. Ukraine's air force said it intercepted 21 of them.
Regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov said the onslaught killed five and injured 48, including four minors, in Kharkiv.
He said the missiles damaged around 30 residential buildings and shattered hundreds of apartment windows in icy weather.
Russia used S-300, Kh-32 and hypersonic Iskander missiles in the attack, Mr Syniehubov said.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said an entire section of a multi-story residential building was destroyed, trapping an unknown number of people there.
The attack injured at least 20 people in four districts of Kyiv, including a 13-year-old boy, according to Mayor Vitalii Klitschko.
The attacks keep Ukrainians on edge while the 1,500-kilometer front line has barely budged.
The attacks on Kyiv and Kharkiv came two days after Moscow-installed officials in eastern Ukraine claimed that Ukrainian shelling killed 27 people on the outskirts of Russian-occupied Donetsk.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it a "monstrous terrorist act."
The Ukrainian military, however, denied it had anything to do with the attack.
Kremlin says Russia is not targeting civilians
The Russian military does not target civilians when it hits objects in Ukraine, the Kremlin said when asked to comment on what Ukraine said were deadly Russian strikes on Kyiv and Kharkiv.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the attacks should not be seen as Moscow's response to the Donetsk strike.
"No, you cannot say that," he said.
"We are continuing our special military operation and our military does not hit social facilities and residential neighbourhoods and does not hit civilians, unlike the Kyiv regime.
"This is what fundamentally distinguishes our military from the military of the Kyiv regime."
Ukrainian forces said they did not bear responsibility for the death of people in Donetsk and blamed Russia for the heavy loss of life.
AP/Reuters
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