Russia-Ukraine updates: Russian missile strikes hit multiple Ukrainian cities
Dozens of injuries were reported in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
Russia has continued a nearly 19-month-long invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Recently, though, the Ukrainians have gone on a counteroffensive, fighting to reclaim occupied territory.
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Dozens of injuries reported after Russian strikes on multiple Ukrainian cities
Russian forces launched missile strikes on at least five Ukrainian cities late Wednesday and early Thursday, just hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's planned meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington, D.C.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who is traveling with Zelenskyy in the United States, described the strikes as "a massive missile attack" on civilian infrastructure, while Ukrainian state-owned grid operator Ukrenergo said it's the first major attack on the country's energy infrastructure in six months.
Russian forces fired a total of 43 missiles across Ukraine from east to west, and 36 of them were shot down by Ukrainian air defense, according to Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The Ukrainian capital of Kyiv was among the major cities hit, along with areas of Kharkiv, Kherson, Cherkasy, Rivne and Lviv.
Ukrainian authorities were still assessing the damage and casualties on Thursday morning, but dozens of injuries have been reported so far. At least seven people were injured by falling debris in Kyiv.
Meanwhile, rescue efforts were ongoing in the central city of Cherkasy to evacuate as many as 20 people believed to be trapped beneath the rubble of a hotel that was destroyed in the strikes overnight. Thirteen others were already rescued and at least nine were injured, according to Ukrainian officials
The overnight strikes also targeted energy infrastructure in the Rivne region and an industrial zone in the Lviv area.
-ABC News' Victoria Beaulé, Guy Davies, Yulia Drozd and Tatyana Rymarenko.
Russian forces strike Kharkiv, Kyiv overnight
Russian forces initiated six strikes on Kharkiv overnight, damaging civilian infrastructure, Ukrainian officials said early Thursday.
The mayor of Kyiv also said explosions occurred in the Ukrainian capital overnight. Debris from the downed rockets fell in the Darnytskyi and Holosiivskyi districts of the city.
Five people were hurt in the Darnytskyi district of Kyiv, where the strike also destroyed non-residential buildings. Three of them, including a 9-year-old girl, were hospitalized. Two were treated by medics on scene.
In the Shevchenkivskyi district of Kyiv, rocket debris damaged a gas pipe, an official said.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
17 dead in Russian attack on Ukraine market
Seventeen people were killed, and 32 others injured, when a Russian missile hit a market in the center of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region, according to Ukrainian officials.
"At this moment, the artillery of Russian terrorists has killed 16 people in the city of Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram. "A regular market. Shops. A pharmacy. People who did nothing wrong. Many wounded. Unfortunately, the number of casualties and the injured may rise."
Zelenskyy visits front line near Bakhmut
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited troops at the front line near Bakhmut as Ukrainian forces continue to make ground in their counteroffensive, the president's office said Tuesday.
Zelenskyy, who was accompanied by commander of ground forces Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, thanked soldiers for their service and presented them with awards, according to a video released by the office.
"I awarded the best warriors. And I thank everyone who fights for the sake of the state," Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian defense forces continue to advance in the direction of Melitopol, according to the spokesman for Pavlo Kovalchuk, the general staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"They were successful in the direction of Robotyne - Novoprokopivka. They are entrenching at the achieved milestones," the spokesman said.
-ABC News' Will Gretsky
Kremlin denies role in plane crash believed to have killed Prigozhin
Russia on Friday vehemently denied having any involvement in the mysterious plane crash that is believed to have killed Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
"There has been a lot of speculation around this crash [and] the tragic deaths of the plane's passengers, among them Yevgeny Prigozhin. Of course, the West presents all this speculation from a particular angle. All of that is sheer lies," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters while answering questions during a press briefing. "One should rely on facts. For now, there are not many facts, they have yet to be established in the ongoing investigative procedures."
Prigozhin, 62, was a former close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. His private paramilitary organization played a key role in Putin's invasion of neighboring Ukraine before briefly launching an insurrection against the Russian military in June. Forces loyal to Prigozhin marched toward Moscow before turning back after several days.
A private jet was en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Wednesday when it went down near the village of Kuzhenkino in Russia's Tver region, north of Moscow. All 10 people on board were killed. Prigozhin and Wagner Group co-founder Dmitry Utkin were among the passengers identified on a flight list, according to Russian officials.
The U.S. Department of Defense said Thursday that Prigozhin was "likely" killed in the plane crash.