Kiev, 31 December 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv again became the target of overnight Russian attacks, only two days after Russia unleashed its biggest aerial assault of the war on Ukraine, according to the authorities.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov and the local public prosecutor's office reported renewed combat drone attacks on Sunday morning, which they said have damaged several residential buildings, offices and a café in the centre of the city.

"There were some impacts in the centre," Terekhov said on Telegram. Casualty figures are still being collected, he added.

It comes after Kharkiv, near the Russian border, was also hit by several Russian missiles on Saturday, injuring 26 people, according to the authorities.

Among the buildings damaged was said to be a large hotel.

Explosions were also reported from the western Ukrainian region of Khmelnytskyy on Sunday morning.

Ukraine's Air Defence said it had shot down 21 of 49 attacking drones across the country overnight. It was not possible to independently verify the claims.

On Friday, Russia unleashed its biggest aerial assault of the war on Ukraine launched almost two years ago, with cities across the country coming under fire from some 160 missiles and drones. At least 39 people were killed and 120 were injured, officials in Kiev said.

Deaths were reported in Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, Odessa, Lviv and Kiev, where residents took shelter in the city's metro. Power was knocked out in several areas of the country.

Ukraine responded by targeting the Russian city of Belgorod near the border on Saturday. Twenty-two people are said to have been killed, according to Russian state news agency TASS, though it was initially unclear whether they had died in direct Ukrainian hits.

Photo: MIA archive