Russian strike kills one, wounds 16 in south Ukraine

A Russian missile strike overnight killed a woman and wounded 16 people in Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, where Moscow has ramped up aerial attacks, authorities said Tuesday.

Images distributed by first responders showed several buildings engulfed in flames and firefighters working to extinguish the blaze.

"Last night the enemy attacked Mykolaiv. A woman was killed," emergency services said, adding that 16 people were injured.

Mykolaiv had an estimated pre-war population of just under half a million people and was subjected to heavy bombardment when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukrainian forces pushed back Russian troops from the region in the autumn of 2022.

However Russian forces have continued to strike the riverside town near the Black Sea coast and over recent weeks stepped up fatal aerial attacks on the nearby port city of Odesa, damaging civilian vessels and port facilities.

The Ukrainian air force meanwhile said it had downed 12 out of 17 Iranian-designed attack drones launched by Russia at Ukraine overnight, including over the Mykolaiv region.