Russian rockets destroy Dnipro airport, according to Ukrainian officials

Russian forces fired rockets into Ukraine's Luhansk and Dnipro regions, Ukrainian officials said, destroying an airport and wounding at least five people

A Ukrainian multiple rocket launcher BM-21 "Grad" shells Russian troops' position, near Lugansk, in the Donbas region, on April 10, 2022. (Photo by Anatolii STEPANOV / AFP) (Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Russian forces fired rockets into Ukraine's Luhansk and Dnipro regions on Sunday, Ukrainian officials said, completely destroying an airport and wounding at least five people.

Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the central Dnipropetrovsk region, said emergency workers were combing through an infrastructure facility that was hit in the town of Zvonetsky, adding that details on casualties would be given later.

Overnight high-precision missiles destroyed the base and headquarters of the nationalist Dnepr battalion in Zvonetsky, which also recently received reinforcements from foreign mercenaries," Russia's Defence Ministry said.

Reznichenko said on Telegram that there had also been an attack on the airport in Dnipro city.

"The airport itself was destroyed, as well as nearby infrastructure. And the rockets fly and fly," Reznichenko said.

Reznichenko said earlier that an attack on Dnipro had wounded one person and the rockets had sparked a fire that was eventually put out. A missile had also hit a building in the Pavlograd district, he added.

Separately, the head of the Dnipro region council, Mykola Lukashuk, says five staffers of the state emergency service had been wounded by the strike on the airport.

Serhiy Gaidai, governor of Luhansk, an eastern region bordering Russia, wrote earlier on Telegram that a school and a high-rise apartment building had been hit in the city of Sievierodonetsk.

"Fortunately, no casualties," Gaidai said.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said it was seeking another round of European Union sanctions against Moscow and more military aid from its allies as it braces for a major Russian offensive in the east of the country.

European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen, second left, and Poland's President Andrzej Duda at the main event of the "Stand Up for Ukraine" global campaign for pledging funds for Ukraine and its refugees, at the Palace on the Water, in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday, April 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Russia has failed to take any major cities since it launched its invasion but Ukraine says it has been gathering its forces in the east for a major assault and has urged people to flee.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Twitter he had spoken on the phone with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about additional sanctions as well as more defence and financial support for his country. 

Zelenskyy also discussed with Ukrainian officials Kyiv's proposals for a new package of EU sanctions, his office said.

In a video address late on Saturday, Zelenskyy renewed his appeal for a total ban on Russian energy products and more weapons for Ukraine.

The EU on Friday banned Russian coal imports among other products, but has yet to touch oil and gas imports from Russia.