The bombing was renewed at dawn on Sunday in eastern and southern Ukraine, a day after dozens of victims were killed by Russian bombing, while Moscow announced that it had ordered the expansion of its military operations to prevent Ukraine from striking the infrastructure in the Donbass region.
Early in the morning, Al-Jazeera correspondent confirmed the fall of 4 missiles on the city of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, while explosions were heard in the Mykolaiv province in the south of the country.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Ukraine reported that 8 people were killed and at least 35 others were injured, in Russian missile strikes targeting different regions in eastern and southern Ukraine.
The reporter also reported that the Shoigov region, south of Kharkiv, was subjected to a missile attack, killing 3 people and wounding others, according to the data of the military administration in the region.
This coincided with the exchange of artillery shelling witnessed in several areas along the northeastern front of Ukraine.
Dozens of victims
For its part, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported that a number of Ukrainian cities were subjected to violent missile and artillery shelling on Dnipro, Odessa, Chugav and Nikopol, which left dozens dead and wounded in the last 24 hours.
The Ukrainian governor of Donetsk accused the Russian forces of using internationally banned shells and cluster bombs.
The Ukrainian General Staff also said, in a statement, that Russian forces carried out air strikes on 17 cities and towns in Donetsk.
The raids were accompanied by heavy artillery shelling targeting northern Sloviansk, eastern Bakhmut, and western Lyschansk.
Operations expansion
On the other hand, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that Minister Sergei Shoigu asked the Russian forces to expand their military operations on all axes of fighting, to prevent Ukrainian forces from launching large-scale strikes on civilian infrastructure in Donbass (east) and other areas.
In its statement, the ministry announced that Shoigu made an inspection tour of Russian forces in Ukraine, and listened to reports from military leaders about military operations.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (right) directed the expansion of military operations in Ukraine on all fronts (Anatolia)
The Russian Defense Ministry released pictures of Russian mobile artillery shelling what it said were Ukrainian army positions in Donbass.
The ministry announced that Russian artillery had destroyed several US-made Howitzer artillery batteries used by Ukrainian forces to bombard cities and areas outside their control in Ukraine.
The ministry also confirmed that its forces had killed more than 200 Ukrainian soldiers by bombing Ukrainian sites in Mykolaiv.
It added that it shot down 3 planes in the Mykolaiv, Donetsk and Dnipro regions, and that it also destroyed workshops for the maintenance of "Tochka MV" missile launchers.
Crimea targeting
In turn, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Intelligence Directorate, Vadim Skipetsky, said - during a television interview - that the Ukrainian forces could use the US Hymars missile systems to target Russian facilities in the Crimea.
He added that Crimea has become a corridor for the equipment of Russian forces to enter Ukraine, and that there are concentrations of Russian forces and equipment that are later transferred to Ukraine.
Skipetsky explained that ships in the Black Sea launch Kalibr missiles on the territory of Ukraine and threaten the security of its citizens, considering that they must be neutralized and their danger removed by all available means.