A Russian missile strike on the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolayiv hit a playground, killing at least three people, including one child, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on July 19.
The strike also wounded five people, Zelenskiy said on Telegram, calling on the world to help stop Russian "terror."
Mykolayiv Mayor Oleksandr Syenkevych confirmed on Telegram that three people, including a child, died in the attack.
Zelenskiy published photos showing what appeared to be at least two bodies -- one lying under rubble by the entrance to a building and another lying in a wooded area near residential buildings. The photos also showed one person being carried away on a stretcher and the windows of the residential buildings blown out.
"This destruction of life must stop," Zelenskiy said. "New solutions are needed to support our defense. Russia must feel the power of the world."
The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly called for Kyiv's Western backers to deliver more air-defense systems to help the country protect its skies from Russian aerial attacks.
The port city of Mykolayiv and the surrounding region regularly come under Russian attacks. Regional Governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram that another missile landed elsewhere in the region on July 19.
Moscow denies targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure despite evidence and testimony to the contrary and the documented deaths of more than 10,000 people in its attacks since the launch of its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Russian shelling earlier on July 19 from across the Dnieper River killed an elderly woman in the settlement of Bilozerka in Ukraine's Kherson region, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram.
A Russian strike on the town of Chuhuyiv in the northeastern Kharkiv region wounded at least seven people, regional head Oleh Synyehubov reported, while in the Sumy region close to the border with Russia, at least one civilian was wounded by Russian shelling, according to regional officials.
Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said that its air defenses had downed 19 Ukrainian drones over the western Kursk and Belgorod regions, as well as occupied Crimea.
