Russian strikes on Ukraine overnight killed at least seven people as Kyiv's army said it had hit several Russian tankers, in fresh attacks just hours ahead of a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky at a NATO summit. A first large blast in Kyiv was heard shortly after midnight even before the city's air alert sirens sounded -- a rare failure in the system that has spooked residents of the capital. That was followed by a barrage of several more explosions, AFP journalists in the city said. One person was killed in Kyiv, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, having reported warehouses on fire after a missile strike. Russia has hit the Ukrainian capital with several large deadly attacks over the last week -- killing more than 50 this month in a spate of ballistic missile and drone strikes. At the NATO summit in Ankara, Zelensky has been urging his allies to deliver ammunition for US-made Patriot air defense systems -- the only thing that can stop Russia's ultra-fast hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles. Elsewhere in Ukraine, a mother and daughter were killed in the southern region of Mykolaiv when Russian forces attacked with guided aerial bombs, regional military head Vitaliy Kim said. Two people were killed in the northeastern Kharkiv region and another two in the frontline Kherson region in the south, officials said. Ukraine also mounted its own strikes deep into Russia -- attacks Kyiv calls fair retribution for the nightly barrages of its cities. The Russian governor of the central Saratov region said one person was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack. Ukraine has also upped its attacks on Russia's so-called shadow fleet -- ageing tankers that export its vital oil products, bringing in crucial revenue for Russia's stuttering economy. The commander of Kyiv's drone forces said 21 Russian ships in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov had been hit over the last 72 hours.
