Russia renews strikes against Kyiv after sinking of its Black Sea flagship

Russian forces accelerated scattered attacks on Kyiv, western Ukraine and beyond on Saturday in an explosive reminder to Ukrainians and their Western supporters that the whole country remains under threat, despite Russia's pivot toward mounting a new offensive in the east.

Stung by the loss of its Black Sea flagship and indignant over alleged Ukrainian aggression on Russian territory, Russia's military command had warned of renewed missile strikes on Ukraine's capital. Officials in Moscow said they were targeting military sites, a claim repeated — and refuted by witnesses — throughout 52 days of war.

But the toll reaches much deeper. Each day brings new discoveries of civilian victims of an invasion that has shattered European security. As Russia prepared for the anticipated offensive, one mother wept over her 15-year-old son's body after rockets hit a residential area in the northeast city of Kharkiv. An infant and at least eight other people died in the attack, officials said. 

Also Saturday, the mayor of Kyiv said one person was killed and several wounded in missile strikes there.

Vitali Klitschko said medics were at the scene of the reported attacks, caring for the wounded. "Kyiv was and remains a target of the aggressor," he said.

Smoke rose early Saturday from eastern Kyiv as the mayor reported a strike on the city's Darnytskyi district. He advised residents who fled the city earlier in the war not to return for their own safety.

"We're not ruling out further strikes on the capital," Klitschko said. "We can't prohibit, we can only recommend. If you have the opportunity to stay a little bit longer in the cities where it's safer, do it."

Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said Russian forces targeted an armoured vehicle plant in Kyiv. He didn't specify where exactly the plant in Kyiv is located, but there is one in the Darnytskyi district.

Konashenkov said the plant was among multiple Ukrainian military sites hit with "air-launched high-precision long-range weapons." As the U.S. and Europe send new arms to Ukraine, the strategy could be aimed at hobbling Ukraine's defences ahead of what's expected to be a full-scale Russian assault in the east.

It was the second strike in the Kyiv area in two days. Another hit a missile plant on Friday as tentative signs of pre-war life began to resurface in the capital after Russian troops failed to capture the city and withdrew to concentrate on Eastern Ukraine.

In the Kyiv region alone, Ukrainian authorities have reported finding the bodies of more than 900 civilians, most shot dead, after Russian troops retreated two weeks ago.

Kyiv was one of many targets Saturday. The Ukrainian president's office reported missile strikes and shelling over the past 24 hours in eight regions stretching across the country.

In Eastern Ukraine, Kharkiv was hit by an explosion, believed to have been caused by a missile, according to firefighters and journalists at the scene.

The strike near an outdoor market and residential and industrial buildings killed one person and wounded at least 18, according to rescue workers who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.