Russia and Ukraine traded drone and rocket fire on Friday, with much of the warfare centered around Zaporizhzhya, where a nuclear power plant is located.
At least three people were killed and 19 injured by Russian missile strikes on the south-eastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya, the Ukrainian regional governor said.
Thirteen of the 19 had to be taken to hospital, including four who were seriously injured, Ivan Fedorov said on Ukrainian news television on Friday. Media reports said two journalists were among the injured.
A total of five rockets were fired at targets in the city in two waves.
The missile strikes were mainly aimed at civilian infrastructure, Fedorov said. Around a dozen residential buildings were damaged.
The journalists reportedly worked for the state news agency Ukrinform and the television station 1+1 and were on the ground reporting on the consequences of the first rocket hits when the second attack followed.
Meanwhile the site of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has been increasingly attacked by Ukrainian drones for days, the Russian-controlled plant management said,
Impacts were registered Friday at the cargo harbour and at a nitrogen-oxygen station, according to the official Telegram channel of the nuclear power plant.
The power plant management blamed the Ukrainian military for this. Not only the shelling of the nuclear facility, but also the neighbouring infrastructure could have serious consequences and endanger the safety of the nuclear power plant, it warned.
Russia captured Europe's largest nuclear power plant shortly after the start of its war against Ukraine more than two years ago and has occupied it ever since. There have been repeated reports of fighting around the plant.
The spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, used the drone attacks to make new accusations against Ukraine.
She accused Kiev of attempting to recapture the facility militarily. "We warn Kiev and its Western patrons against any attempts to attack or destabilize the situation around the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant," she said.
A day earlier there had been reports that the nuclear power plant had been disconnected from one of the two high-voltage power lines. In this case, however, the Ukrainian nuclear energy supplier Enerhoatom cited Russian shelling as the cause.
The power supply to the nuclear power plant had already been cut a fortnight ago following a large-scale Russian missile attack.
The mutual accusations cannot be independently verified. The reactors were already shut down in 2022 due to safety concerns, but must continue to be cooled. Observers from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are stationed at the site.
The attacks during the day followed back and forth overnight. The Russian Defence Ministry said its border region was hit by dozens of Ukrainian drone attacks in the early hours of Friday, while forces in Ukraine announced they had shot down incoming drones from Russia.
Ukrainian media reports said a drone attack on the Morozovsk military airfield in the southern Russian region of Rostov had destroyed half a dozen fighter jets on the ground.
Rostov Governor Vasily Golubev reported a "massive drone attack" and confirmed the district of Morozovsky was targeted. He said on Telegram that an electrical substation had been damaged and some residents were left without power but did not mention the airfield.
A further eight jets were damaged, the Ukrainian reports said, citing security service sources who believe at least 20 Russian soldiers were either killed or injured.
The reports said the attack was carried out by the Ukrainian secret service SBU but there was no independent confirmation of this. The military airfield is around 270 kilometres from the front line.
A statement from Moscow's Defence Ministry said Russia's air defences had intercepted a total of 53 missiles, 44 of which were in the Rostov region.
Russia is increasingly coming under fire - particularly in the border region. Its military infrastructure has often been the target of such attacks as Ukraine looks to turn the tables.
Meanwhile Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė announced the imminent purchase and delivery of around 3,000 drones for Ukraine following a meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Denys Shmyhal on Friday.
The unmanned aerial vehicles, worth a total of around $21.6 million, should reach the front line by the end of this year, Šimonytė said in Vilnius.
The damage and number of casualties from Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia are insignificant compared to the carnage in Ukraine over the last two years, although Kiev reported Russia's latest drone bombardment had been unsuccessful.
Russia in recent weeks has intensified the use of explosive-laden drones to attack Ukraine.