KYIV, May 19 (Reuters) – Russia launched a new wave of overnight air strikes on Ukraine early on Friday, setting ablaze several buildings in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s hometown and seriously wounding a 64-year-old woman, Kyiv said.

Moscow has stepped up its campaign of long-range attacks in the last month, shifting from a winter tactic of targeting energy infrastructure with weekly strikes to much more regular attacks that often come during the night.

“Several explosions occurred in (the central Ukrainian city of) Kryvyi Rih. The enemy hit a private industrial enterprise. Several buildings caught fire at once,” the president’s office said in a statement.

Air raid sirens blared across the capital and most of the country as people slept. In Kyiv, the night sky was lit up as air defences searched for drones.

The Ukrainian military said it had shot down three of six cruise missiles, and 16 of 22 attack drones that were fired. The figures implied an unusually high proportion of the Russian missiles and drones attacks had not been intercepted.

Ukrainian authorities offered little detail about what had been struck except for the damage in Kryvyi Rih, the steel-producing city where Zelenskiy grew up.

“A 64-year-old woman was injured. She was hospitalised in a serious condition,” the president’s office said. “The enemy attack caused a fire in the administrative building. It has already been extinguished.”

A 45-year-old man also received light injuries, it said.

Kyiv attributes the recent increase in the frequency of air strikes to Moscow’s concerns about an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive aimed at recapturing land occupied by Russia in the south and east.

Ukrainian authorities do not report hits on critical infrastructure or military facilities. Russia reports its air attacks as successful strikes on its intended targets.

Earlier, air raid alerts sounded throughout Ukraine early on Friday, with some areas later reporting explosions and officials saying anti-aircraft units were in action in several regions.

The alerts extended to all regions of the country for about an hour from 2 a.m. (2300 GMT).

But there were no reports of strikes on infrastructure or civilian targets and no indications of casualties as the alerts were withdrawn in Kyiv and in central and southern regions.

Air raid alerts remained in force into the early morning throughout western Ukraine, but only in two regions in the east and Russian-annexed Crimea in the south.

The head of Kyiv’s military administration said Russian forces had sent successive waves of drones towards the capital, the 10th attack this month and the second in less than 24 hours.

“This Kremlin tactic is an attempt to overwhelm our anti-aircraft forces and put psychological pressure on civilians. It won’t happen!” Serhiy Popko wrote on Telegram.

“All air targets sent toward Kyiv were destroyed by our anti-aircraft defences.”

Several regions reported anti-aircraft units in operation.

Explosions were reported in widely separated regions, including Kriviy Rih in central Ukraine and Rivne and Lutsk in the west.

Ukraine’s military had said on Telegram that Russian aircraft were in the air and there was a threat of strikes from hypersonic Kinzhal missiles. An earlier military statement said some airborne targets had been downed, but gave no details.

The military had warned that central regions and Kyiv were at risk from drones.

Russia’s Tass news agency, quoting Russian-installed officials in the Moscow-controlled area of Donetsk region, said Ukrainian forces had fired eight grad missiles into the Russian-held city of Donetsk after midnight.

There were no details of damage or casualties.

Reuters was unable to verify details of any of the reported military activity.

Photo: Ukraine serviceman of anti-aircraft unit of the ’24 separate mechanized brigade named after King Danylo’ monitors the sky over frontline positions at an undisclosed location, in Donetsk region, Ukraine. EPA-EFE/OLEG PETRASYUK