Russia pounds Ukraine as Putin holds talks in Tehran

By SUSIE BLANN
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian missiles have struck cities and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled to Iran to discuss a U.N.-backed proposal to unblock Ukrainian grain exports. The regional governor in the eastern city of Kramatorsk said one person was killed in an airstrike that hit an apartment building. Fresh blood stained the concrete amid green leaves shorn from trees as nearby apartments on two floors burned. The strike on Tuesday came after Donetsk Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko had reported four other Russian strikes in Kramatorsk and urged civilians to evacuate. Russian forces also fired seven Kalibr cruise missiles overnight at the Odesa region in southern Ukraine. Ukraine claimed to have shot down a Russian fighter jet in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.