<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Ukraine's capital Kyiv has been attacked from the air by Russia for the ninth time this month.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Speaking before the all-clear was given, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a fire in one district had been caused by falling debris.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Blasts were also heard in central Ukraine in the regions of Vinnitsa, Khmelnitsky and Zhytomyr.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kyiv's military administration said preliminary information indicated all incoming missiles had been destroyed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Writing on Telegram, Mr Klitschko said the fire had broken out in a garage in the Darnitsya area of Kyiv, but added no one had been injured.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The head of Kyiv's civilian military administration said a heavy missile attack had been launched from Russian strategic bombers over the Caspian sea.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Serhiy Popko said the attack probably included cruise missiles, adding that Russia had deployed reconnaissance drones over Kyiv after unleashing its wave of air strikes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Wednesday, at least eight people were reportedly killed - including a five-year-old boy near Kherson - and 17 injured by shelling in Ukraine, as both sides traded accusations of striking civilian areas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Western officials say Ukraine's army is at "an increased state of readiness" ahead of a long-awaited counter- offensive against Russia's invasion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The officials said many of Kyiv's military capabilities were now "coming together" - including its ability to deploy tanks, fighting vehicles and combat engineers, as well as clearing mines, bridging rivers and striking long-range targets.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They said Russian troops were in a parlous state but warned that Moscow's defensive lines in Ukraine were "potentially formidable" and guarded by "extensive minefields".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So the officials argued the success of any Ukrainian offensive should be measured not just by territorial gains but also by whether it convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin to rethink his strategy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The "cognitive effect on the Kremlin", they claimed, was more important than Ukrainian forces cleaving through Russian lines all the way to the border. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">&nbsp;bnbd24/kh</div>