KYIV, Ukraine -- Russian forces unleashed missiles across Ukraine early Tuesday, killing and wounding civilians and damaging infrastructure. The barrage came just hours before top Russian military officials and their counterparts from allied countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa gathered outside Moscow for a security conference.
Missiles struck cities from the east to the west of Ukraine, including far behind the front lines where Ukraine is fighting deeply entrenched Russian forces to regain territory occupied by Moscow.
Russia has built heavily fortified defenses along the more than 600-mile-long front line where Ukraine has only made incremental gains since launching a counteroffensive in early June.
"Deliberate large-scale attacks on civilians. Solely for the sake of killing and psychological pressure," Ukrainian President Vlodoymyr Zelenskyy adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on X, formerly known as Twitter, on the latest Russian attacks.
Six Russian-launched missiles hit the western region of Lviv, wounding 19 people, including a 10-year-old child, Lviv Gov. Maksym Kozytskyi said. According to city authorities, the power grid and nearly 120 residential buildings were damaged.
The Swedish bearings maker SKF confirmed that three of its employees were killed overnight after its factory in Lutsk, north of Lviv, was hit by a missile strike. One person was killed in the east of Ukraine in Kramatorsk after Russian forces hit a food warehouse. In central Ukraine, a strike left parts of the city of Smila without access to water and also damaged a medical facility.
The barrage came a day after Russian forces unleashed a wave of missile and drone strikes on Odesa in the country's southwest.
Russian forces have pummeled Odesa, hitting facilities that transport Ukraine's crucial grain exports and also wrecking cherished Ukrainian historical sites. The repeated attacks on Odesa follow Moscow's decision to break off a landmark agreement that had allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia and help reduce the threat of hunger.
In Russia on Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin addressed a security conference outside Moscow in a pre-recorded video statement, accusing the West of fueling the conflict "by pumping billions of dollars" into Kyiv and "supplying it with equipment, weapons, ammunition, sending their military advisers and mercenaries."
Information for this article was contributed by Emma Burrows of The Associated Press.
Lilia Chumak, 4, fixes her dress after she steps out of the ambulance operated by Ukrainian Red Cross volunteers in Kupyansk, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. Ukrainian Red Cross teams continued to respond to evacuation requests from civilians living close to the northeast frontline where Russia has recently stepped up attacks. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)
A Ukrainian soldier looks on at the front line near Bakhmut, one of the longest battles with Russian troops, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Libkos)
A Ukrainian soldier smiles at the front line near Bakhmut, one of the longest battles with Russian troops, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Libkos)
A Ukrainian soldier waves atop an APC at the front line near Bakhmut, one of the longest battles with Russian troops, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Libkos)
A Ukrainian soldier looks out an APC at the front line near Bakhmut, one of the longest battles with Russian troops, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Libkos)
Ukrainian soldiers ride an APC at the front line near Bakhmut, one of the longest battles with Russian troops, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Libkos)
Ukrainian soldiers ride all-terrain vehicles at the front line near Bakhmut, one of the longest battles with Russian troops, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Libkos)