KYIV: One person was killed and 23 people, including a child, were wounded in a Russian missile strike on an apartment block and houses in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv in the early hours of Thursday, officials said.

“At night, Russia bombarded Mykolaiv with four Kalibr missiles launched from the Black Sea,” President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on the Telegram app. “The high-precision weapons were aimed at private houses, a historic building, and a high-rise building.

For now, we know about one dead and 23 wounded, including a child.“ A video posted by Zelenskiy showed badly damaged buildings with smashed windows and smoke rising above the roofs.

Regional governor Vitaliy Kim said the emergency services put out several fires caused by the missile debris and that they were clearing the rubble.

Russians pound frontline positions in Bakhmut, Ukraine military says

Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians in its full-scale invasion that has killed thousands of people, uprooted millions and destroyed towns.

Mykolaiv, a shipbuilding centre and port, had a population of about 470,000 people before the war.

The city has suffered heavy Russian bombardments throughout the war.