Russian strikes kill nine across Ukraine, ravage apartment house

Russian strikes destroyed a five-storey housing block in Kharkiv (SERGEY BOBOK)Russia fired a volley of missiles and drones across Ukraine overnight on Friday to Saturday, killing nine and wounding more than a dozen, including children, and destroying an apartment block in Kharkiv. AFP reporters in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, saw rescuers sifting through the rubble of what used to be part of a typical Soviet five-storey housing bloc.Several people were believed to be trapped under the debris after a missile strike that killed seven."Since last night, the rubble of a residential building in Kharkiv is being cleared following a Russian ballistic missile strike," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media."Unfortunately, as of now, seven people are known to have died. More than 10 people have been wounded, including children," he said.Russia is thought to have fired 29 missiles and 480 drones.Kharkiv mayor Igor Terekhov said the wounded included two boys, aged six and 11 and a 17‑year‑old girl.The strikes also targeted energy and railway infrastructure across Ukraine, said Zelensky.Another person was killed in the eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk, while three were wounded in the capital Kyiv, local authorities said.- New talks? -In the Sumy region bordering Russia, a 24-year-old man died in his car when it was hit by a Russian drone, according to local officials.In Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine, a Russian drone strike wounded a baby, according to the head of the regional administration, Ivan Fedorov.In Chuguiv, in the Kharkiv region, Mayor Galyna Minayeva said two people were wounded in a drone attack on a house in the city centre.An air raid alert was triggered during the night across all of Ukraine.The Polish air force said on X it had scrambled military aircraft to protect its airspace in regions bordering Ukraine, as it usually does in the event of large‑scale Russian strikes.The barrage comes as Moscow and Kyiv exchanged 500 prisoners of war (POWs) each over Thursday and Friday, as per accords reached during the latest round of peace talks in Geneva.Negotiations appeared to have stalled amid a lack of progress and since the eruption of war in the Middle East.Kyiv had said there had been a tentative plan to hold talks in Abu Dhabi this week -- one of the places hit by Iranian missiles and drones.On Monday, Zelensky suggested holding the next meeting in Switzerland or Turkey instead. Both have hosted previous rounds of talks.bur-asy/gl