Russian missile kills four, wounds 20 in east Ukraine: governor

KYIV: A Russian missile fired Tuesday on the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum killed four people and wounded 17, the governor of the broader Kharkiv region said on social media.

Izyum, which had a population of around 45,000 people before the Russian invasion launched in February 2022, was occupied for several months at the beginning of the war before being retaken by Ukraine.

But Russian forces are making gains in the region and undoing the advances Kyiv's army made in their 2022 counteroffensive, while stepping up bombardments here.

"According to initial reports, the occupiers used a ballistic missile. Four people were killed," Oleg Synegubov wrote on Telegram, adding that five people had been hospitalised.

In an update he said that 20 people had been wounded in the strike that targeted the centre of the town, which lies some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the front line.