Russia bombards at least eight Ukrainian towns and cities in murderous revenge for sinking of its Black Sea flagship

RUSSIA bombarded at least eight Ukrainian towns and cities yesterday in murderous revenge for the sinking of its Black Sea flagship.

Missiles rained down on Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv among others amid reports most of the 485 crew on the sunken Moskva had died.

It came as tyrant Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said Russia’s war losses in personnel and equipment were “considerable”.

The attacks began with a pre-dawn blast at Darnyts’kyi, a suburb in the south of capital Kyiv.

One died and others were hurt in what the Kremlin claimed was a hit on a tank repair factory.

In a second blitz, Su-35 jets fired four cruise missiles on Lviv, thought of as a safe haven city in Ukraine’s west.

Ukraine said the weapons were shot down.

In mid-morning, a warship-launched missile landed in second city Kharkiv, killing at least one, injuring 18 and blowing out windows half a mile away.

We waded through the destruction as fire crews battled blazes and medics saw to the wounded.

Among the wreckage was the tail-end of a Kalibr cruise missile — probably launched from the Black Sea or the Sea of Azov some 200 miles to the south.

It hit what officials said was a humanitarian aid centre, blasting out walls to expose bolts of bright cloth and sewing cubicles.

Blood was visible on the walls, left by survivors as they struggled from the ruins to safety.

Seamstress Helen suffered deep cuts to her head.

A dazed bakery worker in the building next-door said of the strike: “It was one explosion and chaos.”

Close to the impact point and near burning cars, a teen lad lay unconscious in a pool of blood.

A woman was carried along nearby on a make-shift cardboard box stretcher.

Other attacks included a missile blitz on the port city of Mykolaiv where Moscow claimed it hit a military vehicle workshop.

Shelling continued in the Donbas region, too.

One person died and three were wounded in Luhansk, its Governor Serhiy Haidai said.

In besieged Mariupol, now largely seized by Russian forces, diehard marines were holding out at the Azovstal steel plant.

The Azov Brigade were preparing to make their last stand there, using a network of tunnels and bunkers for protection.

The bombardments came after Moscow threatened long-range attacks over the sinking of the Moskva by Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles on Thursday.

It was Russia’s biggest single naval loss since the end of World War Two and the first time Russia has lost a flagship since 1905.

Ukraine said the Moskva’s captain Anton Kuprin, 44, died in the attack.

Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskash said 54 members of the crew were rescued by a Turkish vessel.

And Russia’s TASS state news agency said survivors were taken to occupied Crimea, but it did not say how many.

However, Ukraine claimed that overall Russia had lost 20,000 service personnel, 163 warplanes, 143 helicopters and 760 tanks.

It emerged yesterday that an eighth Russian general had been killed. Major General Vladimir Frolov, deputy commander of the 8th combined Arms Army, was laid to rest in St Petersburg.

Miras Bashakov, a tank battalion commander, became the 34th colonel to be killed.

Ukraine admitted yesterday that it had lost 2,500 to 3,000 soldiers and that another 10,000 had been wounded.

It came as Moscow accused Ukraine of launching a helicopter gunship night raid on Klimovo, about eight miles inside Russia, on Friday.

Ukraine has not acknowledged the mission.