At least 21 civilians, including two children, were killed in a Russian airstrike on a residential street in Ukraine's northeastern city of Sumy late on Monday, the regional prosecutor's office said in a statement on Tuesday.
The bodies were recovered by emergency services early on Tuesday in searches that are ongoing, it said.
"In some localities, residential buildings were bombed,"
Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, head of Sumy's regional administration, said in a statement posted on Facebook early Tuesday.
He said several houses were destroyed when a bomb hit near the centre of
Sumy. More than 20 people were killed, including children, he said.
Four Ukrainian soldiers were also killed in what
Zhyvytskyi described as "unequal combat with the Russian military."
The information could not initially be independently verified.
Infrastructure Minister
Oleksandr Kubrakov meanwhile estimated the damage wrought to
Ukraine's transport infrastructure by the
Russian invasion at more than 10 billion dollars.
This included bridges,
railway lines and airports, he said in remarks reported in Tuesday's edition of the Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper.
The Ukrainian official said the
damage could be repaired in two years and that he was counting of foreign assistance to rebuild.
Russia was offering a fresh
Ukraine ceasefire for Tuesday, Moscow's ambassador to the United Nations
Vasily Nebenzya said on Monday amid efforts to get civilians to safety.
Another round of talks between
Russia and
Ukraine is expected on Thursday.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister
Dmytro Kuleba confirmed plans that would see him meet with his Russian counterpart
Sergei Lavrov in Turkey this week.
"Currently the 10th [of March] is planned. Let's see - if he flies to
Antalya, then I'll fly too. Let's sit down, let's talk," Kuleba said in a video message on Monday evening.
