As Western deliveries of long-range weapons begin to help Ukraine on the battlefield, Russian missiles and rockets have pounded cities in raids that Kyiv says have killed dozens in recent days.

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“It’s not just air and sea missile attacks,” Vadym Skibitskyi, a spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence, said late Saturday. “We can see shelling all over the contact line, all over the front line. There is active use of tactical aviation and attack helicopters. “Preparations are clearly being made for the next stage of the attack.” Story continues below ad The Ukrainian military said Russia appeared to be regrouping units for an attack on Sloviansk, a symbolically important Ukrainian-held city in the eastern Donetsk region. 0:59 ‘This is an act of Russian terrorism’: Zelensky says Russian missiles kill 20 people in western Ukraine ‘This is an act of Russian terrorism’: Zelensky says Russian missiles kill 20 people in western Ukraine Britain’s Ministry of Defense said on Sunday that Russia is also bolstering defenses in areas it holds in southern Ukraine following pressure from Ukrainian forces and pledges by Ukrainian leaders to expel Russia. Ukraine says at least 40 people have been killed by Russian shelling of urban areas since Thursday as the war launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 intensifies. Dozens of relatives and local residents attended the funeral of four-year-old Liza Dmitrieva in the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on Sunday. The girl was killed in a rocket attack in central Vinnytsia on Thursday that killed 24 people, Ukrainian authorities said.

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Story continues below ad In the south, more than 50 Russian Grad rockets hit the town of Nikopol on the Dnipro River, killing two people in the rubble, Governor Valentyn Reznichenko said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia has used more than 3,000 cruise missiles to date and that it is “impossible to count” the number of artillery and other strikes so far.

			Zelensky fires top officials

Meanwhile, Zelensky fired the head of Ukraine’s powerful internal security service, Ivan Bakanov, and prosecutor general Irina Venediktova, who led the effort to prosecute Russian war crimes, saying many of their officials were cooperating with Russia. Trending Stories

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Zelensky said more than 60 officials from their two agencies are now working against Ukraine in Russian-occupied territories, and 651 cases of treason and cooperation have been opened against law enforcement officials. “Such a series of crimes against the foundations of the state’s national security … raises very serious questions for the relevant leaders,” Zelensky said in a Telegram post. Story continues below ad 0:45 Zelenskyy says “significant effort” is being made to restart global food supply Kyiv and the West say the conflict is an unprovoked attempt to retake a country freed from Moscow’s rule with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Moscow calls the invasion a “special military operation” to demilitarize its neighbor and root out nationalists it says is using high-precision weapons to degrade Ukraine’s military infrastructure. Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has ordered military units to step up operations to prevent Ukrainian strikes on Russian-held territory, the ministry said in a statement. READ MORE: Ukraine searches for survivors after Russian missiles hit Vinnytsia His remarks on Saturday appeared to be a direct response to what Kyiv says are a series of successful raids on 30 Russian logistics and munitions hubs, using several newly-supplied Western multiple-launch missile systems. Story continues below ad The strikes are wreaking havoc on Russian supply lines and have significantly reduced Russia’s offensive capability, according to Ukraine’s defense ministry. Ukrainian officials say the new US High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems (HIMARS) they began receiving last month allow them to reach targets in Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, and other Russian-held areas. READ MORE: At least 17 dead after Russian missile attack in central Ukraine, Kyiv says “Good morning from HIMARS,” Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s president’s chief of staff, wrote on Telegram on Sunday along with a video showing a large explosion, which he said was another damaged Russian ammunition depot in southern Ukraine. On Sunday, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the refusal of Ukrainian and NATO powers to recognize Moscow’s authority over Crimea represented a “systemic threat” to Russia, which has its Black Sea fleet based there. Sea. A spokesman for the Odesa regional administration, Serhiy Bratchuk, told Telegram late Sunday that a “significant number” of Russian warships had moved from Crimea to Novorossiyisk, along Russia’s Black Sea coast. 2:53 Zelenskyy begs G7 allies for more help Zelenskyy begs G7 allies for more help – June 27, 2022 The Russian-backed separatists said HIMARS missiles killed two civilians and damaged a bus depot and several other buildings in Alchevsk, east of Solviansk. Ukraine’s armed forces said they struck the bus depot because they had information it was being used to house Russian troops. Story continues below ad The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces destroyed a launch pad and a reloading vehicle for one of the HIMARS systems deployed near the eastern city of Pokrovsk. Pokrovsk regional police chief Ruslan Osipenko said a residential area was shelled by Russia with multiple rocket launchers and there were dead and wounded. He posted videos of damaged homes and residents describing the attack. (Reporting by Reuters offices; Writing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Philippa Fletcher and Andy Sullivan; Editing by Frances Kerry, Frank Jack Daniel and Daniel Wallis)