Ukraine war: Russia hits Kyiv area as Ukraine seeks to retake south

A school was destroyed in a "massive" Russian missile attack in the southern Mykolaiv city, local officials said

Russia has carried out deadly strikes across Ukraine, as Kyiv stepped up its efforts to retake the occupied southern Kherson region.

Five people were killed and 26 injured when missiles struck the central city of Kropyvnytskyi, officials said. Three people died in Bakhmut, in the east.

Near Kyiv, 15 people were hurt at a military base. Ukraine's northern and southern regions were also hit.

This comes as Ukraine seeks to isolate Russian troops in the country's south.

A key bridge into the city of Kherson is out of action after Ukrainian forces struck it with long-range rockets supplied by the US. This makes it impossible for Russia to send deployments and weaponry over the Antonivsky Bridge.

UK defence officials say the only Ukrainian regional capital seized since the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February is now "virtually cut off from other occupied territories".

However, the Ukrainian military has warned that Moscow is now redeploying its forces from eastern Ukraine to defend the Kherson region.

Pictures have emerged purportedly showing Russian troops trying to set up a pontoon crossing near the damaged bridge.

Control over Kherson is important for Russia, as it provides a land corridor to Crimea - Ukraine's southern peninsula annexed by the Kremlin in 2014.

In Kropyvnytskyi - the capital of the Kirovohrad region - a flight school was hit by two Russian missiles at about 12:20 local time on Tuesday (09:20 GMT), regional head Andriy Raikovych said at a briefing.

In Bakhmut, which lies in the eastern Donetsk region, at least three people were killed and another three injured in Russian shelling, regional head Pavlo Kyrylenko said. Twelve residential buildings were damaged.

Separately, 15 people were hurt when six Russian Kalibr missiles hit a military base in Liutizh, about 10km (six miles) north of the capital Kyiv, senior Ukrainian military official Oleksiy Hromov said. He did not specify whether there were any deaths.

Elsewhere, one person was killed and two injured in Russian shelling of Ukraine's central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk region, local officials said.

• Ukraine's shadow army resisting the Russians

• In maps: Ukraine launches counterattack in south

Five months since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine, Western allies continue to condemn Moscow's aggression.

On Thursday the US, Canada and 36 European nations said they were establishing an expert mission to review the human rights situation inside Russia - which they said had deteriorated since the invasion began,

Acting through the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the nations accuse Moscow of increasing the suppression of dissenting voices inside the country.

In a statement, the group also expressed concern at reports of torture in detention centres.

In September its experts will publish a report and offer recommendations on how Russian authorities can address the situation.

As a longstanding participant member of the OSCE, Russia has previously agreed to honour commitments to human rights and other democratic principles.

War in Ukraine: More coverage

• ANALYSIS: How Russia is cutting off gas to Europe

• WATCH: Kyiv apartment residents hope to rebuild

• FOOD: Why does the world need grain from Ukraine?

• READ MORE: Full coverage of the crisis