Kyiv/IBNS: Russia launched attacks on cities spanning a wide arc across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, central and southern regions, resulting in the deaths of at least five individuals on Friday.

Amidst Russian attacks on multiple cities in Ukraine, it has been reported that Ukrainian forces plan to launch an offensive soon using new military equipment, including tanks provided by their Western allies, reported Reuters. 

The attacks by Russia come after their winter offensive failed to make much progress.

One of the targeted cities was Uman, where an apartment building was hit by a missile, causing a fire and resulting in three fatalities and eight injuries, stated Ihor Taburets, who is the head of the military administration in the area, confirmed these details.

Explosions and air raid sirens rocked Kyiv, with reports of blasts across Ukraine, including two individuals being injured in Ukrayinka in the Kyiv region.

According to the military administration in Kyiv, their anti-aircraft units managed to destroy 11 missiles and two drones, causing debris to damage a power line.

Interfax reported that explosions were heard after midnight in several cities, including Dnipro, Kremenchuk, and Poltava in central Ukraine, as well as Mykolaiv in the southern region.

Throughout the conflict, Russian forces have encountered setbacks, and have been attempting for 10 months to gain control of the city of Bakhmut, which was once home to 70,000 people.

Russia views Bakhmut as a crucial step towards capturing other cities in eastern Ukraine, which is currently its primary military objective.

On Friday, Russia launched attacks across Ukraine, which came a day after the Kremlin stated that it would welcome anything that could bring an end to the conflict.

This was in reference to a phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday, which marked the first conversation between the leaders since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February of last year.

The Kremlin also emphasized that it still needed to achieve the goals of its "special military operation" in Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin had launched the invasion on February 24, 2022, citing the need to protect Russia.

However, Ukraine and its Western allies rejected this, asserting that it was an unprovoked land grab by Putin, and that it has resulted in the largest land war in Europe since World War II.