A Russian drone attack late yesterday set buildings ablaze in Ukraine's south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, injuring 29 people, including a child, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said.
He said Russian forces had made at least 10 strikes on the city, damaging private homes, high-rise apartment buildings, educational institutions and infrastructure sites.
Three people were rescued from the rubble in Zaporizhzhia and 12 people were being treated in hospital, Mr Fedorov added.
The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 64 of 150 drones launched by Russia overnight. Another 62 drones did not reach their targets, likely due to electronic warfare countermeasures, it said.
It did not specify what happened to the remaining 24 drones.
Pictures posted online showed a building ablaze and rescue teams making their way through rubble and clambering up the side of damaged buildings on extended ladders. One picture showed a rescue team carrying an injured man to safety.
Ukraine's state-owned railway Ukrzaliznytsia said the attack on Zaporizhzhia also damaged its locomotive repair plant, an enterprise which specialises in the repair of passenger electric train engines.
The plant will not be able to function due to the significant damage, Mr Fedorov said in televised remarks.
Russia creating 'security strip' in Ukraine's Sumy region
Meanwhile, Russia is continuing to create a "security strip" in border areas of Ukraine's Sumy region after driving Ukrainian troops out of the Kursk region of western Russia, state news agency RIA quoted the Russian Defence Ministry as saying.
It quoted the ministry as saying that in the past week, Russian troops had seized four settlements in Ukraine's Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in March that Russia should look to create a buffer zone in the Sumy region, which borders Kursk.
Ukraine parliament to vote on ratifying US minerals deal on 8 May
The attack comes a day after Kyiv and Washington signed a landmark minerals deal.
The deal will give the United States preferential access to new investments in extraction of Ukraine's natural resources, and fund investment in Ukraine's reconstruction.
Ukraine's parliament will hold a vote on 8 May to ratify the deal, a politician said today, while two other documents pertaining to the agreement will not need to be ratified.
Ukraine hopes the deal will pave the way for Washington to provide security pledges to the embattled country, which has been fighting a Russian invasion for more than three years.
Politician Yaroslav Zheleznyak published the date of the upcoming ratification vote on the Telegram messaging app.
He also cited Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal as telling parliament today that two of the documents related to the deal covered its implementation and would not need to be ratified by politicians.
Ukraine's cabinet registered a bill to ratify the minerals deal with the US last night, according to the parliamentary database.
