June 5, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

A Russian missile was downed on Sunday by Ukraine’s air defense system above the Obukhiv area south of Kyiv, the Kyiv region military administration said on Sunday.

“According to the preliminary information, there are no casualties or destruction,” the statement said.

Some background: Multiple explosions also hit the capital on Sunday morning local time. One person was hospitalized.

“In reference to this morning's explosions in the capital's Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi districts, there are currently no casualties from missile strikes on infrastructure. One victim was hospitalized,” Klitschko said on Telegram.

He added that the city’s services are still operating in the affected areas. 

Russia “continues to launch missile and air strikes on military and civilian infrastructure in our country, in particular in Kyiv,” a separate update the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Sunday.

CNN's Taras Zadorozhnyy, Josh Pennington and Sophie Jeong contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian counterattacks over the past 24 hours in Severodonetsk are likely “blunting” Russian momentum, the UK Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update on Sunday.

The ministry said the Russian troops include personnel mobilized from the reserve of the Russian-led separatist forces of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic.

“These troops are poorly equipped and trained, and lack heavy equipment in comparison to regular Russian units," it said.

Russia flew a cruise missile “critically low” over the South Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant on Sunday, Ukraine’s state-run nuclear power station operator Energoatom said.

Energoatom said that Russian forces “still do not understand that even the smallest fragment of a missile that can hit a working power unit can cause a nuclear catastrophe and radiation leak.”

Russian troops continue to “storm” the city of Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, and they are “controlling the eastern part of the city,” Serhiy Hayday, the head of Luhansk regional military administration said on Sunday.

Russian forces are also “focusing on offensive operations to surround our troops” in Severodonetsk and neighboring Lysychansk, and to “block the main logistics routes,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a separate update on Sunday.

Around 40 kilometers (24 miles) southwest of Severodonetsk, Russia is also trying to “lead an offensive in the direction of Nyrkove – Mykolaivka,” Hayday said.

In Severodonetsk's industrial area: Russia again attacked the Azot chemical factory complex with “artillery shelling,” Hayday said, damaging one of the buildings.

Last Tuesday, a Russian air strike hit a tank of nitric acid at the factory and on Thursday, troops fired at the complex and hit an administrative building and a warehouse. Hayday said 800 people are currently sheltering in several Soviet-era bomb shelters underneath the factory. 

In the Hirske area: About 30 kilometers (18 miles) south of Severodonetsk, “significant damage” was sustained to 13 buildings.

Five buildings were also damaged in Lysychansk, the city next to Severodonetsk.

In Luhansk and Donetsk: In the past 24 hours, “five enemy attacks have been repulsed” and Ukrainian troops have destroyed “three tanks, four artillery systems, eleven armored combat vehicles and twenty-six vehicles,” Hayday said. Air defense units also shot down a Ka-52 combat helicopter and two Orlan-10 UAVs, he added.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person has been hospitalized after multiple explosions hit the capital on Sunday morning local time.

He said the city’s services are still operating in the affected areas. 

Several explosions were reported around the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv at dawn on Sunday local time. 

"A few blasts in the Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi districts of Kyiv. The services are already working on site. More detailed information later," said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko on Telegram.

A CNN journalist who saw the aftermath of the explosions said one north-east of Kyiv sent a thick column of smoke into the sky.  

There were also reports of missile strikes around the port city of Odesa early Sunday. 

The Russian state news agency TASS said five civilians were killed on Saturday as a result of multiple explosions close to the city of Donetsk. Meanwhile, hundreds of people are fleeing the eastern city of Sloviansk daily.

Here are the latest developments on the war in Ukraine:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian artillery has "destroyed" 113 churches during "the full-scale war" with Ukraine.

Earlier Saturday, CNN reported All Saints Church in Sviatohirsk Lavra was "destroyed" by Russian shelling.

Zelensky noted in his address it is "not the first shelling of the Lavra," and "three Lavra monks were killed by the Russian shelling on Wednesday. Worship services are forced to be held in the basement."

According to the President, the sounds of incoming Russian artillery are "constant" in the Lavra.

Zelensky pointed out Sviatohirsk Lavra "belongs to Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is still considered in Moscow to be connected with the Russian Orthodox Church, but even this does not stop the Russian army."

In the light of "the support of the Orthodox hierarchs in Russia for the aggression against Ukraine," Zelensky called on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church "to draw conclusions."

The Russian state news agency TASS said five civilians were killed and 20 were injured Saturday as a result of multiple explosions close to the city of Donetsk by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The city is held by the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, but is rarely shelled by Ukrainian forces.

Ukrainian officials have not commented on the explosions. 

The DPR said on its Telegram channel 10 Grad rockets had been fired at the Kirov district of the city. The headquarters of the Territorial Defense of the DPR said, "as a result of the shelling in Donetsk, the number of wounded increased to 10 people."