Star Metro - Ukraine faces overnight attacks, strikes bridges in occupied areas

The Ukrainian air force said Sunday that it shot down 30 out of the 40 cruise missiles and all Shahed drones launched by Russia.

"In total, the enemy used 70 air attack weapons in several waves" in the night from Saturday to Sunday.

It added that Russia launched three Kinzhal hypersonic missiles but did not say if they had been destroyed.

The Ukrainian armed forces did not specify which sites were hit by the missiles that got through air defences.

The Russian army however said it struck "Ukrainian armed forces airbases around the settlements of Starokostiantyniv in the Khmelnytskyi region and Dubno in the Rivne region".

Home to a major airbase, the western Khmelnytskyi region, located hundreds of kilometres from the front lines of the fighting, has been repeatedly targeted during the war.

"Since yesterday evening, the Khmelnytskyi region has been attacked three times... most missiles were shot down," said local official Sergiy Tyurin.

Several buildings and the bus station were damaged, he said on Telegram.

He also posted pictures of a crumbling building engulfed in flames, saying a corn waste warehouse had caught fire.

Meanwhile in the Rivne region that Russia said it hit, "only a few private households were damaged", according to regional head Vitaliy Koval.

- Bridges hit -

On Saturday, Ukraine said Russian forces struck a blood transfusion centre in the Kharkiv region of northeast Ukraine.

"This war crime alone says everything about Russian aggression," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The reported strike came shortly after Zelensky said Russian missiles had hit a facility of the Ukrainian aeronautics group Motor Sich, one of several companies requisitioned by the government since Moscow's invasion.

Russian air defences were also at work on Sunday, as Ukraine targeted two bridges on occupied territory.

"The enemy launched a missile attack near the Chongar bridge" that connects southern Ukraine to the annexed Crimean peninsula, Moscow-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov said on Telegram.

"One hit, some missiles were shot down," Aksyonov said, adding that repair work was ongoing.

A separate attack on a bridge near Genichesk in southern Kherson wounded a civilian and damaged a gas pipeline, cutting supplies for about 20,000 residents, Moscow-installed official Vladimir Saldo said.

Russian air defence also shot down a drone approaching the Russian capital, which until recent months was almost never targeted.

It downed the drone without any casualties or damage, and restrictions on flights at Moscow's Vnukovo airport were quickly lifted.

There have been an increased number of drone attacks not only on regions bordering Ukraine, but also on Moscow.

- 'Productive' talks -

A Ukrainian drone had hit a Russian oil tanker south of the Kerch Strait in the night between Friday and Saturday.

On Sunday morning, repair work was being carried out on the vessel that was still afloat, according to Russia's Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport.

Attacks have multiplied on both sides of the Black Sea since Russia exited a deal protecting grain exports there, brokered by the UN and Turkey.

Russia has hit port infrastructure on the Black Sea and the Danube, while Ukraine has targeted Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

While combat continues, the likelihood of securing peace looks extremely thin.

Saudi Arabia nevertheless hosted talks on the Ukraine war Saturday, with organisers bringing together representatives of the four members of the influential BRICS bloc -- Brazil, India, China and South Africa -- but not Russia.

"We had an extremely honest, open conversation," a statement on the Ukrainian presidency website said Sunday, calling the consultation "very productive" despite "different views".

The Ukrainian delegation headed by Andriy Yermak is due to hold more bilateral meetings Sunday.

V.Jackson--SMC