In fierce shelling, Russia attacks over 100 settlements in 24 hours: Ukraine

KYIV: More than 100 settlements have come under attack marking the heaviest day of Russian shelling this year, Al Jazeera reported citing Ukraine's Interior Minister.

In a statement on social media, Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said that Russia had unleashed a barrage of shells on cities across the eastern regions of the country.

"Over the last 24 hours, the enemy shelled 118 settlements in 10 regions," Klymenko said on Wednesday. "This is the highest number of cities and villages that have come under attack since the start of the year," he said.

Russia's wave of strikes turned some towns and villages to rubble. Local authorities said that overnight shelling in the city of Kharkiv, near the border with Russia killed one person, while another person was also killed in southeastern Kherson, Al Jazeera reported. A Russian drone strike on the southern city of Nikopol also killed a 59-year-old woman and injured four people.

Kyiv reported that a Russian strike on an oil refinery in Kremenchuk had caused a fire that took hours to extinguish but resulted in no casualties.

Ukraine and its Western allies, such as the United States, worry that Russia could squeeze Ukraine by targeting energy infrastructure as winter approaches, Al Jazeera reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, a family of nine, including two young children, were found dead in their home in the eastern Ukrainian town of Volnovakha, CNN reported.

The Ukrainian Donetsk Region Prosecutor's Office shared distressing images of the gruesome crime scene, depicting multiple family members fatally shot while they were in their beds, still holding each other, with bloodstains splattered on the walls.

Kyiv asserts that the family was murdered by Russian occupying forces following a dispute, while Russian authorities have reported the arrest of two Russian soldiers in connection with the killings.

Volnovakha has been under Russian control since March 2022, following Moscow's aggressive invasion of its neighbour the previous month, according to CNN.

This month, Ukrainian forces have managed to resist a renewed Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine, even as Moscow's forces continue to target residential areas.

In response to the escalating conflict, Ukraine has ordered the mandatory evacuation of civilians, with a particular focus on safeguarding children in regions close to the front lines in the east and south, CNN reported.