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Three killed in Russian strike on factory: Ukraine

A vegetable oil factory in central Ukraine has been hit by a Russian missile, killing three people. (EPA PHOTO)

Three people have been killed in an overnight Russian missile strike on central Ukraine, and a fourth was killed in shelling, Ukrainian officials say.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said the three people killed overnight were workers at an industrial facility that was hit in the central Poltava region. 

Five others were wounded and another person was unaccounted for, he said on Monday.

Presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak described the facility as a vegetable oil factory in the Myrhorod district of Poltava region, and posted photos showing the plant in flames. Klymenko said the fire had later been extinguished.

"The people were working the night shift," Yermak said on the Telegram messaging app.

Oleksandr Prokudin, governor of the Kherson region, said a 63-year-old woman had been killed in shelling of the village of Sadove at around 10.40am local time on Monday.

The Ukrainian military has said Russia launched four missiles from the Black Sea overnight, two of which were shot down.

The military reported that Kryvyi Rih region was also hit by missiles in a separate attack. Local authorities said several private houses were damaged, but they did not report casualties.

Ukraine's deputy defence minister earlier said troops had liberated the southeast settlement of Robotyne and were trying to advance further south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces.

"Robotyne has been liberated," Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar was quoted as saying by Ukraine's military on Monday.

The military said last week its forces had raised the national flag in Robotyne, but also said at the time they were still coming under fire in the settlement.

Meanwhile Russia said it shot down a Ukrainian drone flying towards Moscow in the early hours of Monday in an incident that once again briefly disrupted flights over the capital.

Authorities have reported more than a dozen attempted drone attacks on Moscow within the past month, a number of which have forced temporary airport closures.

The drones appear to be probing Moscow's air defences from different angles, with Monday's brought down in the Lyubertsy region to the southeast of the capital, according to the defence ministry.

State aviation agency Rosaviatsia said three airports temporarily restricted flights but later returned to normal operation.

Moscow reported the first drone attacks on the capital in early May, when two were fired at the Kremlin without causing damage. Since then they have become a frequent occurrence.

Most have been intercepted by Russian air defences, but several have hit buildings in a business district of the capital.

Ukraine hardly ever takes responsibility for strikes on Russian territory, though officials have often expressed satisfaction over them.

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