Warehouses reportedly storing Ukrainian ammunition have been struck by Russian missiles overnight, in an apparent bid to hinder Kyiv’s preparations for a highly-anticipated spring counteroffensive.

Videos posted on social media from Pavlohrad, central eastern Ukraine, showed a significant blaze at the site of the strike, with an industrial zone, 19 apartment buildings and 25 homes damaged or destroyed, according to the head of the Dnipro region council.

Mykola Lukashuk added: “There were also fires. Emergency services are at work.” The area was struck twice overnight.

Vladimir Rogov, an official in the Russian-backed administration of Zaporizhzha, posted on social media to say that Russian forces had struck military targets at Pavlohrad, along with what he said were pictures and videos of the blaze.

Russia has said that some recent strikes were designed to hamper Ukraine’s preparations for a counteroffensive in the east.

The size of the fire suggests that Russia may have hit an important arms depot.

The latest wave of strikes come just three days after 25 people died from Russian missiles on several Ukrainian cities, with the majority of fatalities occurring in an apartment block in Uman.
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