Six dead in Russian attacks on southern Ukraine

Russian air attacks have killed at least six people, injured 21 more, including five children, and set fire to several buildings in southern Ukraine, regional governors say.

Five people were killed in the Mykolaiv region and one was killed in the Zaporizhzhia region, where a residential building was destroyed, the governors of the regions said on the Telegram messaging app.

Among the injured overnight in Zaporizhzhia were five children between the ages of 4 and 17.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Russia.

The Ukrainian air force said later on Monday it shot down two missiles and 39 out of 74 drones launched by Russia overnight.

The air force said 30 more drones were lost in Ukrainian air space and three more left toward Belarus and territories temporarily occupied by Russia.

Ukraine and Russia deny targeting civilians in their attacks, but thousands of people have died since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the vast majority of them Ukrainians.

The Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia regions and most the of eastern half of Ukraine were under air raid alerts and the threat of Russian drone attacks on and off for most of Sunday night, according to data from the Ukrainian air force.

Ukraine's top commander said Russia is attempting to push Ukrainian forces from its western Kursk region with tens of thousands of troops, aiming to retake territory it lost.

The comment from General Oleksandr Syrskyi on Monday came a day after the New York Times reported Moscow had assembled a force of 50,000 troops, including North Korean soldiers, in the region bordering Ukraine for an attack.

"Carrying out an order of their military leadership, (the Russian forces) are trying to dislodge our troops and advance deep into the territory we control," Syrskyi wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Syrskyi made no reference to the possible presence of North Korean troops among the Russian forces.

Ukraine launched its incursion into Kursk in August, seizing settlements in its first such deployment into Russian territory since Moscow launched its February 2022 full-scale invasion.

Russia, however, has continued its slow but steady advance across much of eastern Ukraine, where it is capturing village by village in a bid to seize the entire industrialised Donbas region.