Russia's war on Ukraine latest: Huge blaze injures 34 in latest wave of Russian strikes

(Reuters) - Russia unleashed a fresh volley of missiles on Ukraine overnight, causing huge blazes in an eastern city, damaging dozens of homes and wounding at least 34 people.

Other cities appeared relatively unscathed, with Ukraine saying it destroyed 15 out of 18 missiles.

FIGHTING

* A Ukrainian general said Russian troops had been pushed out of some parts of the battlefield city of Bakhmut but conditions there were difficult.

* The head of the Wagner private militia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, renewed his appeal to Russia's defence ministry to increase ammunition shipments to his fighters in Bakhmut.

* An explosion derailed a freight train in Russia's Bryansk region which borders Ukraine, the governor said.

* Kyiv described a fire in Sevastopol, on the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula, as part of preparation for Ukraine's planned upcoming counteroffensive.

DIPLOMACY

* The Vatican is involved in a peace mission to try to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Pope Francis said.

* French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke by phone and discussed Ukraine's military needs.

GRAIN

* Ukraine's grain exports totalled 3.62 million tonnes in April compared with 923,000 tonnes in April 2022 when all the country's Black Sea ports were blocked due to the Russian invasion.

QUOTES

* If the Wagner group is to die, it will be "not at the hands of the Ukrainian army or NATO but because of our domestic bastard-bureaucrats" - Yevgeny Prigozhin.

* "The explosion wave twisted the door. Had we stayed for five more seconds, we would have been trapped here ... My child will need psychological help, it is horrible" - Pavlohrad resident Viktoriia Suprun.

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(Compiled by Reuters editors)