KYIV – Russian missile strikes killed five people including a child in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro the night before, while a teenager and another person died in attacks on Kyiv and the surrounding region, officials said on Oct 26.

       The strikes came less than 48 hours after Russia finished hosting a three-day summit of the Brics group of emerging economies in the city of Kazan, where President Vladimir Putin faced calls from world leaders to end the conflict.

       “After everything that was said in Kazan, Russian murderers returned to their usual business,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct 26.

       “This proves once again that aggression cannot be stopped by talking, but only by decisive actions in defence of the state,” he added.

       The strikes on Dnipro late on Oct 25 killed five people and damaged multiple buildings, including a hospital, the authorities said.

       More than a dozen other people were wounded in the city, including children, Dnipropetrovsk’s region governor Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram.

       Images shared by the governor showed rescuers working over a pile of rubble, while another showed what appeared to be a hospital room with its windows blown out.

       Separate night attacks on the capital Kyiv and the surrounding region left two people dead, including a teenage girl who was killed in a drone strike on an apartment building, according to the regional authorities.

       Ukrainian cities including Kyiv have been subjected to deadly drone and missile attacks throughout Russia’s invasion.

       Kyiv has been asking for more air defences from its allies ahead of what is likely to be its toughest winter yet, as Moscow ramps up strikes on energy infrastructure.

       The Russian military said on Oct 26 it had captured the front-line village of Oleksandropol in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, where it has made a string of advances in recent months. AFP