Russia has launched a mass attack on southern Ukraine, officials report. This comes two days after a rare airstrike on Kyiv killed 23 people.

"The combined group of troops continue a non-stop offensive along almost the entire front line," General Valery Gerasimov told his deputies in an address published by the Defence Ministry. Russia has stepped up airstrikes on Ukrainian towns and cities far behind the front lines this summer and has continued a grinding offensive across much of the east,