Russia targeted more than 40 villages ; fires rockets at Ukraine

Russia targeted more than 40 villages around Ukraine over the past day, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday, killing at least two people and sustaining the terror that forces people into air raid shelters each night.  Russian forces launched five rockets, 30 air strikes and more than 100 multiple-launch rocket system attacks on Ukrainian targets, the Ukrainian armed forces general staff said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday monitored drills of the country’s strategic nuclear forces that involved multiple practice launches of ballistic and cruise missiles in a show of force. Despite the Western dismissals of the

Russian claims, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted Moscow had information about “an ongoing preparation in Ukraine for such a terror attack.” Missiles struck several buildings and neighborhoods in Mykolaiv on Tuesday, though it remained unclear if there were any casualties, according to local authorities. More strikes were reported early Wednesday.