KYIV: Russian strikes on the heavily bombed Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv near the country’s southern frontline killed five people and wounded seven more on Friday, the regional governor said.

“Today, they shot at another area near a public transport stop,” Vitaliy Kim said in a statement on social media.

He initially announced a death toll of four, but later said five people had been killed in the strike and seven were wounded, with rescue services working on the scene.

Mykolaiv, near the Black Sea, has seen roughly half of its estimated pre-war population of nearly 500,000 people leave and the city has been shelled daily for weeks.

It is the largest Ukrainian-controlled urban hub near the frontlines in the Kherson region, where Kyiv’s army has launched a counter-offensive to regain control of the economically and strategically important coastal territory.

The Ukrainian presidency said Friday that Russian shelling the previous day on Mykolaiv had damaged or destroyed several buildings, including residential homes.

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“A humanitarian aid delivery point was also damaged. Three people have been wounded,” it said.

In the eastern Donetsk region, governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said Friday that Moscow’s forces had killed eight people and wounded 19 more in attacks over the previous day.