The China Mail - At least 21 killed in Russian and Ukrainian long-range strikes

Both sides have been intensifying drone and missile strikes with diplomacy on ending the four-and-a-half-year war at a standstill.

In the most deadly attack, a Russian missile strike outside the Ukrainian capital killed at least 10 people and wounded around 100, Ukraine's prosecutor general said.

Other officials and industry figures said the strike hit an arms exhibition.

Ukrainian prosecutors opened a criminal probe into the organisation of the event -- the latest Russian strike on a gathering of military and defence figures in the war.

A Russian aerial bomb also killed five people in the frontline city of Sloviansk and damaged Latvia's honorary consulate there.

"Russia has long abandoned any regard for international norms -- and for human values," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.

"Their only interest is in continuing the killing."

Overnight, his army launched a wave of long-range drone and missile attacks on Russia.

Moscow said an attack on a factory more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) from the front in the city of Kirov killed six people.

Ukraine also attacked warehouses belonging to Russian online retail giant Wildberries outside Saint Petersburg -- targeting Russia's equivalent of Amazon for the third time in a week.

The strikes come as the war has seen more civilians dying this summer than in any period since the first months of Russia's invasion, according to the United Nations.

Zelensky said the "key military enterprise" hit in Russia's Kirov "supplies components for the occupier's aircraft and missile systems, which are used in the massive attacks against ou cities".

Kirov governor Alexander Sokolov confirmed Kyiv targeted a "factory" and that the six victims were killed on the spot. Another 26 were wounded.

While Kyiv has hit Russian towns as far as the Urals and Siberia, it has mostly damaged energy infrastructure, with deaths so deep into Russia rare.

- 'Frightened' -

In Saint Petersburg -- Russian leader Vladimir Putin's hometown -- the attacks on Wildberries warehouses sent smoke pouring over the historic city.

Zelensky, who has accused the company of storing drone components and helping the Russian army, hailed Friday's strikes as "successful".

Ukraine says its retaliatory strikes aim to weaken Moscow's war machine and to force the Kremlin to negotiate an end to the fighting.

The attacks on Russia's main cities were unthinkable when the Kremlin launched its offensive in 2022, believing in a quick victory and promising Russians life back home would not be affected.

In Saint Petersburg, 50-year-old teacher Anna said the strikes only "make people angry".

"This Ukrainian tactic is not leading to peace, even in my entourage, people are getting angrier and say that if that's their way, then we should continue (the offensive)," she said.

Ukrainian cities have been under constant Russian attacks since 2022, with civilians dying across Ukraine every day during the war.

None of that is visible in Russian media, with Moscow introducing massive censorship during the war and banning criticism of its military campaign.

- 'Horrific tragedy' -

Hours after Ukraine's attack on Saint Petersburg, AFP reporters in Kyiv heard blasts over the city and authorities warned of incoming Russian missiles -- a rare daytime strike on the Ukrainian capital.

On the path leading to the training ground, AFP journalists saw at least five bodies covered in black sheets.

The entrance was closed and investigators were seen coming in and out.

Andriy Grytseniuk, head of state-backed defence group Brave1, described the strike as a "horrific tragedy".

"The enemy launched a ballistic strike on an event organised by a private association of manufacturers," he said.

Announcing a criminal inquiry, prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko said he would investigate "who made the decision to hold the event... and whether the risks were properly assessed under martial law";

Russia has in recent weeks launched several waves of deadly ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv.

The UN said this week that civilian casualties in the Russia-Ukraine war rose 37 percent in the first half of this year -- almost double what was documented in 2024.

P.Ho--ThChM