Russian missiles and drones that targeted dozens of Ukrainian cities and towns overnight killed five people in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolayiv, officials said on October 13 as NATO allies meeting in Brussels committed more military aid to Kyiv.
Overnight shelling in Mykolayiv destroyed an apartment building, where late in the day rescuers found the body of the fifth victim, a 32-year-old woman, in the rubble, said Hanna Zamazeyeva, the head of Mykolayiv City Council.
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Four other people were killed in Mykolayiv, a shipbuilding center and a port on the Southern Buh River, which has been a frequent target of Russian attacks. The Ukrainian military's General Staff said the latest attack involved eight S-300 missiles.
The General Staff said Russian missiles fired overnight hit more than 40 settlements across Ukraine, while Ukraine's Air Force carried out 32 strikes on 25 Russian targets.
The region around Kyiv was targeted in the bombardment, setting off air raid sirens multiple times.
Kyiv regional Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said the strikes were caused by Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles known as kamikaze drones.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office, said the drones hit critical infrastructure facilities.
Three drones also hit the small town of Makariv west of Kyiv, Andriy Nebytov, the head of the Kyiv region police, said on Telegram, while shelling also hit the southern city of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the head of the regional administration, Valentyn Reznichenko, reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told international representatives at the Council of Europe on October 13 that Ukraine needs to protect its skies.
“If this is done, it will be a fundamental step to end the entire war in the near future,” Zelenskiy said.
Responding to Zelenskiy's pleas, the British government announced it would provide missiles for advanced NASAM antiaircraft systems that the Pentagon plans to send to Ukraine in the coming weeks.
Britain also is sending hundreds of aerial drones for information-gathering and logistics support, plus 18 howitzer artillery guns.
“These weapons will help Ukraine defend its skies from attacks and strengthen their overall missile defense alongside the U.S. NASAMS,” British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said.
Other NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels this week promised to supply systems offering medium- to long-range defense against missile attacks.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov declined to reveal the details of what was discussed at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting on October 12, but told a briefing that the United States signaled that it is necessary to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense as quickly as possible with weapons beyond the NASAMS.
"And I think that literally in the next few weeks we will understand that it will work,” he said.
The overnight bombing was the fourth consecutive night of attacks since a truck bomb explosion on the Kerch Bridge.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the bridge bombing, which damaged a portion of the bridge connecting Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2014, but the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament threatened an “even tougher” response to future Ukrainian attacks.
“All the organizers and perpetrators of the terrorist attacks must be found; those who resist must be destroyed,” State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on Telegram.
But, in a sign that Ukrainian forces are making gains, the Russian-installed governor of the Kherson region advised on October 13 that residents should flee.
"We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if they wish, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes...go to other regions," Vladimir Saldo said on Telegram.
Russia later agreed to help residents leave the region, which is one of four it illegally annexed.
"The government took the decision to organize assistance for the departure of residents of the [Kherson] region," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said.
WATCH: Artillery battles erupted in the hotly contested Donetsk region near Bakhmut, a strategic city in the Donbas. Russian forces have been focused on capturing Bakhmut in recent weeks.
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Ukrainian Artillery Pounds Russian Military Targets In The Donbas
In Russia's Belgorod region along Ukraine's western border, the governor said Ukrainian forces had resumed cross-border strikes, damaging a residential building and destroying an ammunition depot.
Initial information showed there were no dead or injured and that residents were being moved to a "safe" place, said Vyacheslav Gladkov.
The Ukrainian military denied any involvement.