Civilian casualties mount in Ukraine; 9 dead in besieged city of Sumy

Civilian casualties have continued to mount as Russian military forces shelled various cities in Ukraine throughout the night and early hours of the morning, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service.

In the eastern city of Sumy, aerial bombardment destroyed residential houses and set an apartment building ablaze. Nine people were killed, including two children.

Dmytro Zhyvytsky, who leads the Sumy Regional Military Administration, said in a video posted on Facebook that after 23:00 local time Russian warplanes carried out strikes on the north-eastern city.

"Unfortunately, children are among those killed." Zhyvytsky said, adding that more than 10 people were killed.

In Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, Russian shelling set nine floors and 27 apartment units of a residential building on fire - a blaze that took rescuers more than four hours to extinguish. At least four people were killed.

In Mykolaiv in the south of Ukraine, several fires in residential areas had broken out. Four civilians were killed in the assault and five others were rescued from the rubble before being rushed to hospital.

Russian aircraft bombed cities in eastern and central Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian officials said. Shelling pounded suburbs of the capital, Kyiv.

In Sumy and Okhtyrka, to the east of Kyiv near the Russian border, bombs fell on residential buildings and destroyed a power plant, Zhivitsky said.

Bombs also hit oil depots in Zhytomyr and the neighboring town of Cherniakhiv, located west of Kyiv. In Bucha, a Kyiv suburb, the mayor reported heavy artillery fire.

“We can’t even gather up the bodies because the shelling from heavy weapons doesn’t stop day or night,” Mayor Anatol Fedoruk said. “Dogs are pulling apart the bodies on the city streets. It’s a nightmare.”

The Ukrainian government is demanding the opening of humanitarian corridors to allow people to safely leave Sumy, Zhytomyr, Kharkiv, Mariupol and suburbs of Kyiv, including Bucha.