By Natalie Thomas

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       MYKOLAIV, Ukraine (Reuters) -A Russian rocket hit the regional administration building in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv on Tuesday, killing at least three people and wounding 22, local authorities said.

       Eighteen of the wounded were pulled from the rubble by rescue workers, who continue to work at the scene, the emergencies service said in an online post

       An image shared by local governor Vitaliy Kim showed a large hole in the side of the building. On Tuesday, Reuters witnesses saw the destruction from a distance and ambulances and fire engines heading to the scene. The area was cordoned off.

       “They destroyed half of the building, got into my office,” Kim said.

       Russian forces have attacked Ukraine’s southern ports including Kherson, Odesa, Mykolaiv and Mariupol as they try to cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea and establish a land corridor from Russia to Crimea, the peninsula Russia seized in 2014.

       Kim said there was an upside to the strike - it suggested Russia had given up trying to take over the city.

       Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special military operation” to disarm its neighbour. It denies targeting civilians and did not comment on the strike on Mykolaiv.

       Ukraine and the West say Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked war.

       Reporting by Natalie Thomas and Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Janet Lawrence

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