Russian Attack Kills Residents and Damages Dozens of Buildings, President Zelensky: Terrorist Missile

President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Source: President.gov.ua)

JAKARTA - Russia fired a new missile barrage into Ukraine overnight at a town in the east, killing two people, sparking a massive blaze, destroying dozens of homes and other structures.

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the two deaths in a video address late in the day, vowing: "The Russian occupiers will accept our answer for any such attack."

"The terrorist missiles claimed the lives of two people, very young men. Forty other people - women, children, men, were treated for wounds and injuries," he condemned.

President Zelensky also said a 14-year-old boy was killed near his school when it was hit by a bomb in the Chernihiv region, near the Russian border.

The attacks on Pavlohrad, a city and railway hub, came during the second wave of nationwide missile strikes in three days, Russia's winter-range long-range strike tactic, amid news that Ukraine would launch a counteroffensive.

A large explosion crater in the backyard of a house filled with rubble on the outskirts of Pavlohrad in southeastern Ukraine, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the front line. Nearby houses were badly damaged. In the city center, the windows of a hostel serving a chemical plant were smashed.

"I ran outside and saw the garage was destroyed. Everything was burning, broken glass was everywhere. If we were outside, we would be killed," said resident Olha Lytvynenko, 61.

Meanwhile, another resident named Viktoriia Suprun (41) said she took refuge with her daughter in the hallway of the hostel.

"We rushed down the hall, lay down on the floor. And then the blast wave spun the door. If we stayed for another five seconds, we would be stuck in here," he said.

Mykola Lukashuk, head of the Dnipropetrovsk region council, said the attack had damaged 19 apartment blocks, 25 houses, three schools, three kindergartens and several shops. The injured included five children, the regional governor said.

Damage appeared to be limited elsewhere in Ukraine, after air raid sirens sounded for hours through the night. Ukraine said it shot down 15 of the 18 incoming cruise missiles.

Separately, Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces had struck using high-precision long-range air and sea missiles against "Ukrainian military-industrial facilities".

"The aim of the strike was achieved. The work of companies that make ammunition, weapons and military equipment for Ukrainian troops has been disrupted," the ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Russian news reports said two civilians were killed by Ukrainian shelling in a Russian-controlled area in the south-central region of Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian forces, the report said, also shelled Russian-held areas of the Donetsk region to the east.

With Ukraine preparing for a counteroffensive to retake territory captured since the invasion was launched 14 months ago, the commander-in-chief of Ukrainian forces, General Valery Zaluzhniy, spoke Monday to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"I emphasize the need to increase the capabilities of the air defense system," General Zaluzhniy said in a statement in his conversation with General Mark Milley.

"Separately, I touched on manning our units and the importance of the timely supply of weapons, military equipment and ammunition to Ukraine in sufficient quantities," he said.

It is understood the war has the potential to be a turning point after five months of Russian offensives that have secured little new territory despite bloody ground battles.

Kyiv is preparing to launch a counterattack using hundreds of armored vehicles and tanks donated by the allies, and thousands of troops have just returned from training in the West.

The Ukrainian General Staff said fighting continued to grip the town of Bakhmut, the focal point of the Russian offensive in the east.

A top Ukrainian general said a counterattack by Kyiv forces had ousted Russian troops from several positions in the city, but the situation remained difficult.