Several dead after heavy Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities
Several people have been killed in Ukraine after Russia fired dozens of missiles across the country, with explosions reported from the capital Kiev to the eastern city of Kharkiv.
According to official figures, at least eight people were killed across the country.
Seven deaths and more than 50 injuries were reported on Tuesday in Kharkiv alone. One woman also died in Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
According to official figures, more than 20 people were injured in the capital Kiev.
Several residential buildings were damaged, Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kiev, announced on Telegram. An unexploded rocket warhead was discovered in one flat. The entire house has now been evacuated.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a multistorey residential building was hit in Ukraine's second-largest city. Water and electricity failed in one district of the city.
An earlier announcement by the military administration in Kiev about a woman who had been killed in the city was later corrected. She had in fact been admitted to an intensive care unit after being resuscitated, Klitschko said.
Klitschko said there was damage to residential buildings and that several cars were set on fire by falling debris from missile interceptions.
One dead and one injured person were reported from Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said Russian military launched a total of 41 missiles of various types in the early morning attacks. Only around half were intercepted.
In Kiev, which is relatively well equipped with air defence systems thanks to Western support, all the missiles were shot down on approach, according to the military. In the early afternoon, another air alert was issued in several regions.
The Polish Armed Forces Operations Centre announced that fighter jets from its own air force and from allies had taken off over Poland due to the morning attacks. The operation was ended in the late morning.
NATO has concluded framework contracts with companies from Germany and France for the supply of artillery ammunition worth around €1.1 billion ($1.19 billion)). The 155-millimetre shells are to be used in CAESAR and PZH-2000 howitzer weapon systems, according to the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). Both are also used by Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia.
The companies that have been awarded the contracts are reportedly the French company Nexter Munitions (KNDS) and the German company Junghans Microtec.
The German manufactures fuses for artillery ammunition in Dunningen in the south-western state of Baden-Württemberg. According to information from NATO sources, the agreement should enable the procurement of more than 220,000 shells.
The leader of the European People's Party (EPP), Manfred Weber, has accused the German government of a lack of determination and a lack of speed in its support for Ukraine.
"The decision-making processes take too long and the decisions are limited," Weber - who is also a leading figure in the German conservative party the Christian Social Union (CSU) in Bavaria - told dpa in Brussels on the fringes of political talks in Kiev.
This is currently the case with the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles. The decision in favour of a delivery of this weapon system is "overdue," said Weber.
As recently as January 17, a motion put forward in parliament by Germany's conservative opposition that called for the government to send long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine was rejected by a large majority of lawmakers.
The German government fears that Russian territory could also be hit due to the Taurus missile range of 500 kilometres.
