Russian missile strikes on October 18 killed several civilians in Ukraine, including five people killed in an overnight rocket attack that struck an apartment building in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya, the regional governor said.
Governor Yuriy Malashko initially told RFE/RL that two people died and three were missing after an S-300 antiaircraft missile hit the building. He announced later on Telegram that the bodies of the three missing people had been found in the rubble of the apartment building.
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Five people were injured and have been hospitalized, he said.
The explosion destroyed floors three, four, and five of the residential building, the Interior Ministry said in a statement, on Facebook, adding that some 50 residents were evacuated.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned the attack, saying the missile hit "an ordinary five-story building" and that eight apartments had been destroyed.
"We will do everything to make the terrorist state bear fair responsibility. Russian terror must lose," Zelenskiy added.
Malashko told RFE/RL that the strike did not have a clear military purpose. "After all, neither critical infrastructure nor military facilities are nearby. This is the center of the city, where ordinary human life goes on. Why they hit this house in particular is unclear," he said.
In the northeastern city of Sumy, a Shahed drone hit an infrastructure object, the regional military administration said on Telegram. The drone hit after an air alarm sounded shortly before 11 p.m. local time on October 18. Emergency services and the military were working at the scene, the regional military administration said.
A separate Russian air strike late on October 18 hit in the Mykolayiv region, killing two people, the Interior Ministry said on Telegram.
"At 8:30 p.m., the enemy launched a rocket attack on one of the settlements of the Mykolayiv district. Two people died, their bodies were recovered by rescuers from under the rubble of a destroyed building of a catering establishment," the ministry said, adding that one person was injured.
It was not possible for RFE/RL to verify the claims.
Russia has been constantly shelling and launching air strikes at Ukrainian cities, killing and wounding civilians and causing extensive damage to civilian and energy infrastructure.
In the eastern region of Donetsk, a civilian was killed in the village of Netyalovo when his home was shelled by Russian forces, local authorities said.
Separately, Ukrainian authorities said a man was killed in the northeastern region of Kharkiv when his tractor drove over a land mine.
Meanwhile, Moscow claimed it had repelled Ukrainian drone attacks on occupied Crimea and two Russian regions.
Russia's Defense Ministry says its forces shot down 28 drones that attacked its Kursk and Belgorod regions and Crimea overnight.
The ministry said 10 drones were destroyed above Crimea. Kursk Governor Roman Starovoit said 12 drones were shot down by Russia's air defenses over his region.
Russian-installed regional Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said later on October 18 that Russia shot down a missile over Sevastopol, home of its Black Sea Fleet on the Crimean Peninsula. The missile detonated in a field and there were no injuries or damage to infrastructure, Razvozhayev said.
SEE ALSO: Israel-Hamas War Creates Prospects, Problems For Russia As It Invades Ukraine And Seeks Clout In MideastSix drones were destroyed by Russian air defenses in the Belgorod region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram. No casualties were reported. Ukraine did not comment on the Russian report, which could not be independently verified.
On the battlefield, General Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, commander of the Ukrainian military's Tavria unit, said Ukrainian forces were proceeding with their planned advance toward the Sea of Azov. Troops with the Tavria unit "are continuing their offensive. They have had partial success to the south of Robotyne," Tarnavskiy said on Telegram.
Robotyne lies along an important road leading to the strategic southern city of Melitopol. Ukraine wants to secure the road as part of push to sever a land bridge linking Russian positions in the south and east.
Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesman for southern troops, also reported progress near Robotyne. Speaking on national television, Shtupun also said that shelling had eased around the town of Avdiyivka.
Heavy fighting continued around the eastern city of Avdiyivka, just north of Donetsk, where Russian forces have been attempting a breakthrough for the past number of days.
Vitaliy Barabash, the head of Avdiyivka's military administration, told Ukrainian television on October 18 that the Russian offensive represented the largest assault on Avdiyivka since the start of the war in February last year.
But Barabash said that Russian forces appear to have run out of ammunition and troops since they started the attack on Avdiyivka on October 10.
"Less shelling, fewer missile strikes, even fewer assaults on our positions," he said.