ODESA, Ukraine, May 18 (Reuters) - Russia struck the Ukrainian cities of Odesa and Dnipro in missile and drone attacks that damaged residential buildings and injured dozens of people, and Russian officials reported two deaths in Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia.
After more than four years of war since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, peace efforts have stalled and each side accuses the other of regularly attacking military, civilian and energy targets as the conflict drags on.
Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched 524 drones and 22 missiles in attacks that began early on Sunday evening and continued overnight. The attacks followed a heavy Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow at the weekend.
Twenty-two people were hurt, including a girl of two and a boy of 10, in the southeastern city of Dnipro and a further eight were injured in the surrounding region, officials said.
Regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said apartment blocks, a religious institution and a university were damaged, and posted photos online showing a building with shattered balconies and firefighters dousing flames.
"Russia relies on ballistic missiles to strike people, and that is precisely why we in Europe must do everything possible to ensure reliable protection against this," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on X after what he said was a more than six-hour attack on Dnipro and the region.
Ukrainian energy firm Naftogaz said drones had struck several of its facilities in the region overnight.
FOREIGN-FLAGGED VESSELS STRUCK IN BLACK SEAS
Russian drones also damaged residential buildings, a school and a kindergarten in the Black Sea export port of Odesa, said Serhiy Lysak, the head of the local military administration, adding that an 11-year-old boy and a 59-year-old man were injured.
Reuters television video footage showed the damaged facade of a historical building near Odesa port.
"I was raised in this building and I'm never going to leave it. Today I sat down and started crying, I kept saying 'my home is on fire, my home is on fire'," said local resident Olena, 54.
Russian drones hit three foreign-flagged ships in the Black Sea heading to ports in the Odesa region on Monday, including a Chinese-owned cargo vessel, Ukrainian authorities said.
In Russia, drones were downed overnight in the southern regions of Rostov and Belgorod, Interfax news agency quoted the defence ministry as saying. Two people were killed and two injured in Belgorod region, local authorities said.
Russia and Ukraine deny deliberately targeting civilians although cities, towns and villages across Ukraine have suffered heavy damage and many civilians have been killed.
At least four people were killed, including three in the Moscow region, after Ukraine launched its biggest overnight drone attack on the Russian capital in more than a year, local officials said on Sunday.
(Reporting by Jekaterīna Golubkova in Tokyo, Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Timothy Heritage)
