Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Friday the military is "ready" to launch a counteroffensive against Russian forces.

"It's up to the general staff and the command," Reznikov said during a press briefing in Kyiv. "We will do it as soon as there is God's will, the weather and the commanders' decision."

Ukraine has received Patriot missile defense systems from the United States as well as Germany and the Netherlands. The Ukrainian military has been trained on how to use the systems and "mastered" them within weeks, according to Reznikov.

"The exact number of batteries, I'm sorry, I won't say," he added. "Let the enemy guess."

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the world not to consider or call the anticipated counteroffensive "a decisive battle." Speaking at a press conference in Odesa on Friday, Kuleba said the decisive battle is the one that will lead to the liberation of all occupied Ukrainian territories.

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky

One person was killed and 23 people, including a child, were wounded in a Russian missile strike in Mykolaiv early Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The missile struck a block that had apartments, houses and a historic building, according to Zelenskyy.

"The terrorists will not get away with this yet another crime against humanity," the president said in a statement.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping in what was the two leaders' first official contact since January 2022, before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Xi announced that he will send a special envoy to visit Ukraine and "other countries" to work on a political solution.

"I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine's ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations," Zelenskyy said in a statement on Twitter.

The Chinese government's official position still refuses to call the war an "invasion."

The call between the two leaders is said to have lasted an hour, according to Zelenskyy's office.

"Before the full-scale Russian invasion, China was Ukraine's number one trading partner. I believe that our conversation today will give a powerful impetus to the return, preservation and development of this dynamic at all levels," Zelenskyy said in a statement.

-ABC News' Karson Yiu, Cindy Smith and Will Gretsky

At least two people were killed and 10 injured after a Russian missile hit a Ukrainian museum Tuesday, officials said.

The local history museum is located in the city center of Kupiansk, in the Kharkiv region.

"The terrorist country is doing everything to destroy us completely. Our history, our culture, our people," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media while sharing a video that showed the damaged building. "Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods."

Air raid sirens blared for more than five hours in several locations across Ukraine starting late Sunday and lasting until the early morning hours.

Ukrainian air forces shot down 11 out of 14 that Russia launched from the north last night, according to the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Over the past 24 hours, Russians have launched five missiles and 13 air strikes, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Russian troops also launched more than 50 rocket attacks primarily in Kherson and Donetsk regions, which led to "dead and wounded civilians, destroyed civilian houses and damaged civilian infrastructure," according to Ukrainian officials.

Shelling from Russian forces was recorded in more than 25 settlements in the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions, Ukrainian officials said.

-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman