Russian strikes kill at least eight in Ukraine, drones hit Moscow

At least five people have been killed and 18 wounded in a Russian missile attack on the town of Merefa in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, local officials say.

Civilian infrastructure was targeted in the attack, including at least 10 houses and four shops, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Monday.

Russia has yet to comment on the strike in Kharkiv, but Moscow has denied intentionally targeting civilians since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“Today during the day, the occupiers attacked civilian infrastructure of a town quite far from the front with a missile,” Syniehubov said on Telegram.

He said two men and three women were killed and four of the injured were taken to hospital in a serious condition.

Regional prosecutors said Russian forces appeared to have used an Iskander-type ballistic missile.

In an overnight attack into Monday, Ukraine targeted Moscow with a drone strike on a residential high-rise building in an upscale neighbourhood.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said there were no casualties in the attack on Mosfilmovskaya Street, an expensive district of the city 10km (6.2 miles) southwest of the Kremlin.

Russian state broadcaster Rossiya-1 published a video showing collapsed walls and broken doors inside a damaged apartment.

Two other drones also targeted the Russian capital overnight but were repelled by air defence systems, Sobyanin said.

The rare attacks on Moscow come five days before Russia’s annual Victory Day parade, which this year will be held without military hardware amid a heightened threat from Ukrainian strikes.

“They fear drones may buzz over Red Square,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement as he joined European leaders at a summit in Armenia, referring to Russia’s decision not to involve cadets and military hardware at this year’s parade.

Kyiv in recent weeks has stepped up its strikes on Russian oil refineries, ports and depots. But Ukrainian drones infrequently reach Moscow, which is heavily guarded by air defence systems.