Two killed in series of Russian attacks on Ukraine

KYIV, Jan 05 (AFP): Russia bombarded Ukraine early Monday, killing two people in the Kyiv region, authorities said on the eve of a diplomatic summit in France.

A countrywide siren was issued just after midnight, while Ukraine's military said air defences were operating in several places.

In the capital, a private medical facility caught fire as a result of the Russian strikes, killing one person and wounding three others, the State Emergency Service of Kyiv said. It released images of rescuers removing people on stretchers from a gutted building.

Another pre-dawn attack on the neighbouring city of Fastiv killed one man in his 70s, according to Kyiv regional governor Mykola Kalashnyk. The strikes caused power outages in the area, with backup systems activated to maintain water and heating supplies, the official said, as temperatures dropped to -8C.