Children die in new Putin strikes

Putin unleashes brutal new cruise missile volley leaving at least 13 dead

- Matt Watts

THREE children were among at least 13 people killed today as Russia launched a series of missile strikes against cities across Ukraine, officials said.

Vladimir Putin’s forces fired more than 20 cruise missiles and two drones at the capital Kyiv and other parts of the country.

Eleven people died including two children and 11 people were injured in the central city of Uman after two missiles hit a nine-storey residential building at about 4.30am, the regional governor said.

It was feared the death toll could rise further as images showed rescuers in a desperate search for survivors in the rubble. Three children were rescued. A woman, 31, and her daughter, aged two or three, were killed in the city of Dnipro and another three people wounded, officials said.

There were also explosions reported in the cities of Kremenchuk and Poltava. Air raid sirens sounded around Kyiv in the first attack against the city in nearly two months.