A series of explosions shook the eastern Ukraine city of Kharkiv early Saturday, sending towering puffs of illuminated smoke into the sky and triggering a series of secondary explosions.
There were no casualty reports immediately.
The blasts came hours after Russia focused attacks on areas it illegally annexed, while the death toll from earlier missile strikes on apartment buildings in the south of the country rose to 14.
Missile strikes in the center of the city caused the early morning explosions, according to the mayor. The blasts caused fires at one of the city's medical institutions.
In a rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his conduct of Europe's worst armed conflict since World War II, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the peace prize to human rights organizations in his country and Ukraine.
The honor was given to three outstanding champions of human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence.
The Zaporizhzhia region, which is home to Europe's largest nuclear power plant, was annexed by Russia this week.
The U.N.'s atomic energy watchdog was alarmed by the fighting near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The world's worst nuclear disaster at Chernobyl could release 10 times more potentially lethal radiation than an accident there, according to the Ukrainian Environmental Protection Minister.
The situation with the Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants is causing consequences that will have a global character.
Emergency backup diesel generators were used to run safety systems after external power was cut off for the second time at the plant.
The city of Zaporizhzhia is under the control of the Ukrainians and is 53 kilometers away from the nuclear plant. Russian forces bombarded the city with missiles on Thursday in order to make their claim to the region.
The death toll from the strikes on apartment buildings increased to 14 on Friday, while 12 people remained hospitalized.
One person was wounded when missiles hit the city. Iran's Shahed-136 drones were used for the first time by Russia.
With its army losing ground to a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south and east, Russia has deployed disposable Iranian-made drones that are cheaper and less sophisticated than missiles.
The Institute for the Study of War said Russia's use of drones was not likely to affect the war.
Many drones have been used against civilian targets in back areas. The analysts wrote that the efforts were not succeeding.
In other Moscow-annexed areas, Russia's Defense Ministry reported Friday that it had repelled Ukrainian advances and taken back three villages. According to the ministry, Russian forces prevented Ukrainian troops from moving in the southern Kherson region.
In his nightly video address Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy said that his military had regained 776 square kilometers of territory in the east and 29 settlements, including six in the Luhansk region. Since the beginning of the counteroffensive, Ukrainian forces have freed 2,434 square kilometers of land and 96 settlements.
One person was killed and another was wounded in a Russian shelling of the city of Nikopol in the Dnipropetrovsk region. The Dnieper River leads to the nuclear power plant in Russia. For weeks, the city has been bombarded.
Friday was when the trail of Russia's destruction and death became clear. According to a report by the Ukrainian First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, over 500 bodies of civilians have been found in the northeastern part of the country.
There were 257 men,225 women and 19 children who were killed during the Russian occupation. There was a mass grave in the city of Izium.
The bodies were found with signs of torture and gunshots. There were people with bullet wounds to their knees and broken ribs and they had ropes around their neck.
According to Serhiy Bolvinov, a regional police official, there are 22 torture sites in parts of the Kharkiv region.
There were 200 individual graves and a mass grave with an unknown number of victims, according to the governor of the region. The bodies of 21 people were reburied in Sviatohirsk.
Russian military equipment is going to the Ukrainians. The British Ministry of Defense said Friday that Ukrainian forces have captured hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles.
The British ministry said that the failure of Russian crews to destroy intact equipment before withdrawing or surrendering highlights their poor state of training. Russia will likely lose heavy weaponry due to the strain it is under.
Putin ordered the Russian army to increase their manpower on the front lines in Ukranian. The military call-up has been hampered by mistakes and tens of thousands of men have left Russia.
Russia is desperate for reinforcements. The Ukrainian military said that 500 criminals have been sent to reinforce the Russian army. The military said that law enforcement officers are in charge.
The first case against a Russian who refused to serve was dismissed by a court in Penza, according to Tass. The man's lawyers argued that the law under which he was charged does not apply to those who are not in the military.
There are reports of poor training and lack of supplies for the Russian troops. At least two Russian cities have decided to stop celebrating Russian New Year's and Christmas in order to buy supplies for Russian troops.
The commander of Russia's eastern military district was replaced under increasing pressure by Putin.
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The report was contributed to by Associated Press journalists in Ukraine.
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The war in Ukraine is covered by the Associated Press.
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